Dreams and Realities
by sugarFREEgum
Summary: Hermione travels half way around the world to look for the lost Horcrux. What happens when she is met by Draco in disguise? Will love emerge? Or will the truths revealed through the past and dreams haunt them instead? HGDM
1. Dreams

**Summary**: (skip this if you just wanna read)

This is more or so a story about high school romance and drama plus action/adventure of the wizard war... Yes, i realize I didn't put action/adventure on the summary thing... i couldn't... sorry

Hermione is forced by Harry to escape to US, because Ron's dead. He makes up a stupid reason that Voldemort's closest living relative is in Sugar Land, Texas, so Hermione ends up there, looking for him without progress. What she doesn't know is that Draco Malfoy is also there for his own reasons. Living in disguise, Draco Malfoy does not reveal his true physical self to Hermione. But, he does reveal his true persona, long hidden through his years in Hogwarts. Each of them is looking for answers for reason of their existance. Why did they end up in an American suburb? What exactly is Voldemort's last horcrux? But in pursuing the answers, they will find truths that they do not want to know.

This is the first chapter. A lot of time changes occur around the beginning, so don't be confused. Hint: It goes from past(sorta), future, past(really), and present and go toward future from there.

I don't own anything you might recognize, especially stuff from JKR. I'll give credits to where ever I got something from.

This story will go along with a lot of stuff that happened in real life, and a lot of stuff is actually based on stuff that actually happened. Just remember that although a lot of stuff seem like it'll never happen, real life is ALWAYS weirder and more unreal compared to fiction.

Rated T for language, mild drug content, mild sexual content. and possibly end up being M if I end up putting in a sex scene. I don't plan on it though.

I'll chronically go over old chapters and change things around, but i'll never change plot so don't worry.

With the long talk over, enjoy.

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**Dreams **

"Gasp!" the young man jerked awake from what seemed to be a terrible nightmare. Drips of sweat ran down his face, along his neck, past his chest, and absorbed into the white sheets. Panting hoarsely, he put one hand to his chest. He didn't need that to realize that his heart was beating hard, loud. He threw himself out of his bed and fell onto the ground. Face flat on the red marble floor, he feebly pushed himself up with his bare hands. That action alone seemed to have put enough stress on his already exhausted body that he looked as if he was about to have a heart attack.

One arm holding on to the blood red wall of his room, the man with shaggy, blonde hair slowly lurched into the bathroom.

One hand, soaked in water from the sink, pulled the man's hair backward away from his face, exposing the cold colorless eyes to the reflection of the ancient Victorian mirror. Wet and smooth, his hair immediately metamorphed into spikes as if it was incapable of imperfection.

Looking into the mirror, the man said to himself, "I can't do this any longer. I must leave."

The blonde, now dressed in pitch black robes, crept out of his room, moving slowly and silently to avoid any unnecessary detection. The hallway looked very different from his room. It was pitch black, unlike his room that seemed to be always bright. The dusty hallway seemed to go endlessly; he began walking.

"Inartistic fool" he mouthed, looking at the crude and vulgar objects scattered around.

There were no portraits anywhere, but that seemed to be a good thing. Portraits were very talkative objects; the blonde was trying to pass unnoticed.

After several halls and staircases, he finally reached the outside. It wasn't actually outside, only the exterior of an underground lair. The lair was on an island, surrounded by magma; it was a secular Hell. The only way out was a long passageway across the lava lake that led to an iron gate. The gate didn't look as if it was locked, it was just closed and seemed as if it had not been opened for a millennia.

He marched toward the gate, but the sound of another man's footstep stopped him. "I wouldn't leave like that if I were you. You will die before you even open the gate."

Drawing his wand, the blonde turned around and aimed his wand toward the source of the voice. The source of the voice was a hooded man wearing a skull mask; it was a death-eater. His wand was already drawn, targeting the blonde.

"I still find it pathetic that you changed your name and appearance," the death-eater began. "Can't you see that the Dark Lord found that action to be pathetic? Your action, driven by shame, has only weakened you and torn your soul to pieces."

"What do you know?" the blonde spat.

"I suppose I shall see," the death-eater sniggered. "Can you prove me wrong? I suppose I shall call you Jacob now."

"You shall!" the blonde, named Jacob, fired the first spell at the death-eater.

The death-eater swung his wand and easily deflected the bolt of light. The yellow light shot into the lava, creating a catalytic reaction that caused a large explosion. Rain of magma sprayed all over where Jacob stood as he created a defensive aura to protect himself. The death-eater took the chance to lunge at him, shooting a bolt of fire that was powerful enough to penetrate his aura. Jacob had only enough time to dodge it because the curse was slowed during penetration.The curse shot past him only a paper-thick distance away.

"You've narrowly escaped again, can you do that again?" the death-eater laughed.

"That fine line separates life from death and separates you and me." Jacob smiled arrogantly. "You can't stop me, professor."

"I am no longer your professor, my young comrade." The death-eater shot another curse at Jacob.

Jacob dodged again and the duel began.

The death-eater seemed to be on the defensive as Jacob shot several assortments of spells and curses at his old teacher. The professor chose not do dodge; he merely froze every one of them in mid-air.

"You've made quite an improvement since the last time we dueled. Your dueling ability, speed and spell wise, equals mine now." The professor said as Jacob gave up firing spells by quantity. "But with your recklessness and lack of strategy, you'll never defeat me."

Concluding that, the death-eater deflected all the frozen spells back toward Jacob's proximity. None of them hit Jacob. Jacob eyed his opponent strangely.

"Look around you." The opponent sniggered.

All the deflected spells had shot into the lava, causing countless magma explosions around the surprised blond. Followed by the magma rain, two tidal waves of lava approached Jacob from both directions. They crashed into each other, consuming the bridge along with the aura-protected Jacob.

The death-eater didn't hesitate.

"Avada Kedavra!" he shot the deadly green bolt of light toward Jacob's position as the lava flowed back into the lake, down the un-meltable bridge.

The green light bolt was only 5 yards away from him when Jacob noticed the deadly curse coming toward him at top speed. He was about to die.

But he didn't die. Somehow, he cast a spell on himself that split him into two distinct persons. Jacob himself slid left in a millisecond; the other, a familiar figure by the name of Draco Malfoy, slid right. Just as the death curse shot through right between them, they merged back together, back to one Jacob.

"Well," The death-eater lowered his wand and took off his mask; it showed the surprised visage of none other than Severus Snape. "Unforgivable curses are driven by the desire to cause pain. I care about you too much. That curse wouldn't have given you a nose-bleed."

Jacob, panting with hands on his knee, only stared at his mentor.

"I'm quite surprised by this outcome," Snape, clapping his hands,continued. "Your self separation spell has progressed quite far. By the fact that you managed to separate into two distinct bodies, even for a split second, I see that you may actually be the first to succeed in perfecting that spell in five-hundred years. But I must say; it may be terribly unwise of you to do so. I don't understand why you're risking so much to do this."

"I have my reasons." Jacob now stood straight. "And I won't let you know why, not for now, at least."

"I don't care about that," Snape spat. "I'm here because you're running away like a coward."

"Right," Jacob seemed to have remembered that he was trying to leave the underground lair.

"May I suggest to you that what you are doing is extremely idiotic, nevertheless endangering the people you were trying to protect in the first place?"

"Don't you think I know that!" the blonde snapped, tears almost falling from his eyes. "But I can't go on like this! I can't kill anyone! I don't even hate the people I'm told to hate for Merlin's sake! I'm tired of pretending and using Occlumency every other minute!"

There was a long period of silence as the blonde waited for his former teacher to pick his words and decide upon a reply.

"My dear student, I know what you have gone through over the past seventeen years; but, I also know what your mother had to go through to protect your secret. For her sake, please don't throw your life away that easily."

"Why are you trying to stop me? You've got everything you want now. You've killed Dumbledore and became the Dark Lord's right hand man instead of me."

"And don't you realize I regret that every moment of my life!"

The Jacob's mouth froze as he became puzzled about his mentor's words.

"Don't you understand?" Snape showed his frustration. "He ASKED me to kill him! It was the only way to save you."

"What do you mean by that?"

"It means that I was never on the Dark Lord's side, you fool!" Snape snapped. "Dumbledore was going to die anyway just as Regulus Black did! I had to kill him to save you!"

Another silence

"So what now?"

"Well," Snape calmed himself and gave a rare, warm smile, "it seems that I'll have to save your family's hide again. I did allow your self-destructing aunt to perform the unbreakable vow on me. I have no choice but to help you."

Jacob looked surprised. He probably thought that he had to kill Snape in order to escape.

"Anyone attempting to pass that gate without the Dark Lord's permission will be teleported into a fire-basilisk's nest under this magma lake. You'd be lucky to be turned into a stone then; but unfortunately, fire-basilisks don't like to open its eyes."

Snape took out an emerald ring from his robe.

"I'd suggest apparition; but, _portus_, this lair is just like Hogwarts. This ring will transport you to America, but be sure to disenchant it as soon as you get there. It should be safe there as the Dark Lord wouldn't dare provoking a neutral nation with the most wizard population, especially with none of them being pure bloods. It's very ironic to see a nation so involved in muggle affairs be so uninvolved in important wizarding matters; but, we'll use that to our advantage."

"Thank you, sir" Jacob proceeded to touch the ring that was now on the floor.

"Wait!" Jacob halted as his teacher decided to add one last word. "I may never see you again, Draco. Let me see your true face one last time."

"Fine," Jacob, whose real name turned out to be Draco Malfoy, smiled.

With a flick of a wand, the man transformed himself. His spiked hair grew longer and smoother like silk and lay flatly backwards on his head. The dirtiness of his hair washed out as his hair color transformed into white, platinum blonde. The color in his skin washed away, leaving a cold, pale color. Jacob metamorphed himself into Draco Malfoy.

"I suppose I won't be able to see that look anymore," Malfoy's mentor sighed and walked away, "There are dreams and realities, Draco; I hope you'll be able to tell the difference."

* * *

As Draco touched the ring and disappeared into thin air, Hermione Granger awakened from her disturbing dream in the arm of the man she fell in love with. Used to weird dreams, she did not jerk awake like Jacob, Jake in short, in her dream. 

Careful not to disturb her lover, she turned her head slowly to look at his face. He was indeed the same Jacob as the Jacob who turned into Draco Malfoy, the man she hated the most.

"_Could Jake really be Malfoy?"_ Hermione wondered.

She couldn't sleep for the rest of the night.

* * *

Thank you 

Review would be nice if you have time.


	2. Realities

Now this chapter explains a little bit more about the emotional side to Draco's escape

There might be some contradicting ideas... I'm doing some revision work, so review and tell me if you see something wrong. I'm trying to find them and fix them right now as we speak.

I hope you enjoy

**

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**Realities**

Jake hadn't been asleep after all.

_Who could sleep after THAT_? Jake thought, and could not stop smiling.

Even after five months of living in America as Jacob M. Alexander, he still wasn't used to being called Jake. He had gone under the alias of Jacob Welsh since childhood; his mother created it for him so he could secretly learn about the muggle society. But he had never been called Jacob in person until his escape. Only his mother and Severus Snape knew of this alias. He changed his name to it and then his appearance upon his father's death. He named the reason for it as his attempt to forget and surpass his father. The Dark Lord had found that pathetic, deeming Draco weak. But Draco was glad, because to be underestimated was Draco's greatest advantage in survival. He had other reasons to change his name. He only wished that someday his dream would be achieved. He changed his last name upon his arrival in America in order to hide himself from any of his potential pursuers. He kept his first name though; Jacob had rooted itself within Draco Malfoy's heart a long time ago. With thousands of Jacobs around the country, he doubted that his name would show up on a search. He didn't even think that the Dark Lord would send someone to pursue him; he was "weak" and useless now. He didn't bother transfiguring himself again.

He missed his mother and his mentor. They had risked their lives to protect him since childhood; yet, all he had done to repay them was to run away and potentially kill them for good. He missed being called Draco.

_Snap out of it Draco! You're Jake now. Forget about the past._

_You're with Hermione now, that's all that matters_

He still could not believe he made love to Hermione, his sworn enemy for the past six years. Only Hermione didn't know that, she still thought he was just an orphaned rich kid from Beverly Hills.

He never wanted to be her enemy, actually; but, being the pureblood that he was, he had to put up a show for the rest of his so-called "friends". He remembered the countless times he was beaten almost to death by his cruel father for questioning their position on muggle-borns and half-breeds or for questioning why they had to follow a half-breed if they hated its kind so much.

_My father was stupid; he was too blinded by hate to see the depth of reality. The Dark Lord didn't kill him, his idiocy did. _

Voldemort had slowly tortured Draco's father hours after hours as a punishment for Draco's inability to kill the headmaster. Draco had always followed his father around, as if he was trying so hard to follow his father's footsteps as a sign of great respect. Lucius Malfoy was arrogant enough to believe it. The Dark Lord, who despised children following the footsteps of their fathers, had laughed it off, calling Draco naïve. Voldemort thought torturing Draco's father would strike a nerve; but, something went wrong; the Dark Lord went too far, leaving Lucius dead.

_If he wanted to strike a nerve, he should have tortured my mother. _

Draco never seemed close to his mother around anyone. Even his own father had thought Draco cared nothing for her at all, but she was the only person in the world who ever meant something to him. That was the truth. It was his mother who stopped Lucius from beating Draco every night as a child. It was his mother who tended upon his wounds. It was his mother who held him with her cold, yet warm hands when he cried. It was his mother who taught him how to behave like a purebred, how to pretend. It was his mother who taught him compassion. It was his mother who introduced him to the muggle society through his alias. It was his mother who took him to Professor Snape for Occlumency lessons so his father would not find out that Draco did not want to follow his father's footsteps, the coward's footsteps.

_For all I know, I was following Professor Snape's footsteps, learning _Occlumency _and Dark Arts and all that. Not Potions though, but that was never his specialty anyway. I suppose I can't do that now, I ran away from it like a coward. But, I suppose the silver-lining is that I don't have to hide my feelings anymore. _

Draco turned his face to stare at Hermione. All he could see was her blonde hair. It had been brown, bushy, and dirty, Hermione's hair. But somewhere between their third and fourth year at Hogwarts, she started caring about what she looked like. With that in his memory, Draco covered his face with Hermione's soft, wavy hair.

_Better than the first time I smelt it. _

Draco and Hermione had a long history, not all filled with hatred. Though he never admitted it as Draco, he had always admired Hermione. He supposed it was her gift to always be honest and straightforward no matter what the consequences were. She always knew the difference between right and wrong like black and white and wielded the gray area like a goddess. All the battles they had during their Hogwarts years only confirmed one thing; he had a crush. He was also jealous. He was jealous of Ron too for that straightforwardness. They were both honest and straightforward; Draco had to hide his true nature. That was why he picked on them so much.

His hatred for Harry had been strange. At first, he believed that if he befriended Harry, he would finally be able to reveal his true nature to one true friend. But the situation they were put in foiled his plan; and, because of Harry's flat rejection, he was bitter toward him. Draco had long since gotten over that, but he could not simply like Harry; Harry was a Gryffindor. He began hating Harry again because he thought Harry would be the one to win Hermione's heart; Draco wanted Hermione. But, to everyone's surprise, Harry decided to become a cradle-robber by going after his best friend's sister, Ginny. Now, he didn't know what to feel about him.

Ron, the straightforward one, had Hermione for a while. _Not anymore_, Draco thought, _I don't wanna think about why. _

_I thought it was the honest, brave men who always got the girl. In this case, the cowardly liar did; how ironic. _

Draco let out a rare, warm smile and kissed Hermione's hair and turned his face toward the ceiling and stared at it for what seemed to be ages.

With that, Draco, disguised as Jake Alexander, reflected upon the amazing three months he had spent with Hermione and wondered what had happened to his mother and that kind old mentor named Severus Snape.

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Review


	3. Life Savor

Thank you all for your comments  
I only own the plot

My pen name is now changed to sugerFREEgum, sorry for the inconvenience if you were looking for the old ReBixJay.

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**Life Savor**

"My lord… please reconsider sending Death Eaters to America just to kill one measly coward."

"NO! I shall not tolerate any disloyalty even if he is your favorite!"

The morning after Draco had left Voldemort's underground layer, the enraged dark lord had ordered Draco's own best friends, Crabbe and Goyle, under the imperious curse, to go hunt down and kill Draco.

"Please! I beg of you!"

"Crucio!" with that, Snape screamed as he never before.

"Aghhhhhhhhhhhhhh!" Snape screamed, "Please, my lord! You can not kill him!"

"You're testing my patience." Voldemort growled, "You may be my most dependable follower, but I will not accept any type of insolence, even from you!"

"My, lord…please" Snape managed to say, "the unbreakable curse… if he dies… I die."

"Hmm," Voldemort stopped his curse.

"He being alive will not do us any harm my lord." Snape said as he caught his breath, "You know he's a coward, sir."

Voldemort stared intensely into Snape's eyes for what seemed to be hours. Voldemort's other followers wondered what was happening but any clever wizard would have realized that the dark lord was trying to read Snape's mind, and was failing miserably.

"If anything happens it's your neck" frustrated Voldemort walked away.

"Thank you my lord" Snape bowed and walked away.

_Thank heavens for Occlumency. _

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Short chapter but I'm posting another one with this so don't be sad ; ) 


	4. Surprise Meeting

Yay, one more chapter!  
I only own the plot. I own Katy and Josh.  
I also own the name Jake.

Please Comment! Hermione finally meets Jake/Draco in this chapter!

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**Surprise Meeting **

Hermione Granger had been living in Sugar Land, Texas for almost a month now. Her parents, fearing for her life, had forced her to seek refuge in America. She enrolled herself into the local high school as a senior. She did choose a life in American suburbia for a reason; she was of age now and if she wanted it, she could have used magic to threaten her parents to let her stay. But that would have been rude of her.

"_Look Hermione, I don't want to put your life in danger. I've already lost Ron I can't be responsible for losing you."_

Those had been Harry's words as he tried to convince her to leave England. They had managed to destroy 4 Horcruxes, but at a great cost. Ron had died trying to destroy Ravenclaw's pendant Regulus Black had stolen from Voldemort years before.

The war against the dark lord had intensified after the death of Dumbledore. Hogwarts was officially closed. The only reason for Hermione to stay in England was to help Harry complete his quest to defeat the dark lord; but…

"_Look, the closest living relative of Voldemort lives somewhere in Houston, Texas." _Harry had said,_ "I need you to find him; he must know something about Voldemort's family history. That's essential to finding the Horcruxes; or at least that's what Dumbledore said." _

So she was stuck here in Sugar Land, alone, lonely, useless. She spent most of her days searching through records, writing stories for the paper, and of course, reading at Barnes and Nobles. She could have read at the local library like her good old days in Hogwarts, but she couldn't miss out on a chance to drink coffee at Starbuck Coffee next door while reading at the same time. She actually began enjoying it.

_SNAP OUT OF IT! You're here to help Harry, not to enjoy life. _

She walked out of Starbuck and carelessly stepped out of the sidewalk. A familiar voice was heard from behind her.

"HERMIONE! WATCH OUT!"

_Malfoy?_

Before she could look back, she noticed that she walked right into the path of a giant black Hummer. The driver wasn't quick enough to react…

* * *

Draco never quite found a reason why he chose to flee to Sugar Land, Texas, a suburb of Houston. One reason he could think of was that Voldemort once mentioned how much he hated this town. He never explained why he hated the place so much though; it was nice, boring but nice. 

_This place has a significantly low magical population and authority. I thought he'd love to torture muggles here. I suppose it's a good thing for me anyway. _

Draco had inherited half of his father's money when his father died. That money was enough to set him up for life. Changing his name to Jacob M. Alexander, he bought a house in Sweetwater, the richest neighborhood in Sugar Land, and an apartment complex near the mall, setting up his income for life.

_Well, there goes my fortune._

Everywhere one goes, the way of the rich never change it seemed. As soon as Draco, a.k.a Jake, moved into his new house, his neighbors lined up to visit their new neighbor. In no time, he made new friends.

_Well, I suppose I can just treat them like purebloods, except with a little warmer attitude. _

That was just for the adults of course. He made friends his own age and soon became the new ladies' man in town. That basically meant that Jake was the man-whore every girl talked about, in private.

And time quickly passed until one October afternoon.

* * *

"Come on Katy; you know you want to sleep with me." 

"In your dreams Jake;" Katy laughed, "I'm not a slut like the other girls you conquer and throw out."

Katy O'Toolewas Jake's girl next door. She was a short, elegant red-haired girl with an enchanting smile. Additionally, she was Scottish; Scottish girls made everything better. Jake had dated her once or twice. She was a challenge to get; she was Jake's next target.

"Now, now children, lets lay off the sex talk for a bit, shall we?" that was Josh's response to this little chit-chat. "We're in public, let's behave as we are."

Josh was Jake's best friend and next door neighbor. Also Scottish, he attended the same school Katy attended and was the school's star soccer player. What Jake didn't realize was that Josh liked Katy; Jake, Draco, was too accustomed to being ignorant toward other people's feelings. Josh understood that, Jake was just another rich boy, and being a good friend, Josh kept his feelings to himself.

_He made the first move anyway. Katy deserves someone who can at least be himself with her. _

"Shut up Josh," Katy stared, "you're worse than Jake."

"Utter rudeness!" Josh replied with the most sarcastic tone he could manage. "You stabbed right into my heart; I'm heart-broken!"

"Oh, I'm sorry Josh." Katy apologized.

"Wow, aren't we tone deaf." Jake sipped on his coffee with a smirk.

Jake's drink almost came out of his nose as he noticed a familiar figure. Too familiar of a figure.

_Hermione?_

"That's Hermione," Katy looked toward the direction of Jake's eyes, "do you know her?"

_She was my greatest enemy and the object of my great obsession. _

"Uhh, not really," Jake recovered his posture, "thought it was someone else."

"She's an interesting person to know," Josh laughed, "you'd know her if you actually go to school."

"Why go to school when you're already rich?" Josh replied with a smirk.

"You and your egos." Katy said.

"Anyways, tell me about this Hermione." Jake asked as if he didn't know anything about her already.

"To start off, everyone knows that Hermione is the smartest girl in the school; she makes the best grades without even studying." Katy started. "She's pretty nice too, I suppose; she helps everyone in her class with school work and all that."

"But," Josh interrupted, "she won't give guys a time of her day. Everyone knows she's probably the hottest girl in the class, but she has a comeback for everything. Most of the guys have already given up asking her out; it's simply impossible."

"Well," Katy continued, "she is a bit anti-social. She could have joined the dance team but she said she was too busy; that's how I know her by the way. I thought she was a bit of a snob at first, but to think about it, I think she's emotionally attached."

_Ron…he's dead now. _

"What do you mean?" Jake asked.

"I found out that she spends most of her time looking up stuff in the town records. She either wants to be the local historian or she's looking for something, or someone."

_What can she find in a place like this? Who can she find that could possibly help her?_

"Well, I suppose I could find out when I go introduce myself to her." Jack said with a face of confidence.

"Good luck." Sarcastically, Katy and Josh said at the exact same instant. They looked at each other and smiled.

_What a cute couple they'd make. I suppose that won't happen now. _

As Jake walked toward Hermione, Hermione suddenly decided to walk out of the store.

_Great, now I've got to chase after her like a stupid stalker. _

Hermione walked carelessly and recklessly into the driveway. Right into the path of a large, black Hummer.

_Oh, shit…_

"HERMIONE! WATCH OUT!"

* * *

Hermione braced for impact out of instinct. She could have tried to evade the car; but, she wasn't a Quidditch player, she was just a girl. 

Suddenly, someone pulled her back into the sidewalk as if she was weightless. But, the person who pulled her lost his balance as Hermione fell on him. She ended up lying on top of him, in his arms; they stared at each other's face for what seemed hours.

The man who had pulled her was a boy her age. He was an athletic boy about 5'11'' with spiked dirty blonde hair. His eyes, she wanted to say blue, were colorless; this reminded her of Draco Malfoy. His face looked nothing like Draco, actually, as Hermione studied his facial features. But his eyes alone made her feel as if she was with Draco Malfoy, her long time nemesis, himself.

_He's not Malfoy. Who is he?

* * *

_

Oh, sweet Merlin, her eyes are beautiful.

Jake, Draco, couldn't help but to stare into Hermione's eyes.

_She's obviously not wearing any make up. But her face, I never noticed it before, but it's perfect. Lashes curled perfectly, brows aligned accordingly, nose sized fittingly, lips curved smoothly, but most of all her eyes; if feels as if her eyes are going to consume me. Are they blue or green? I can't seem to tell at this angle with the Sun on top of her. Or is it simply because she fell on me so hard that I can't think straight? Far worse, has her beauty taken away my rational?_

_SNAP OUT OF IT!_

Draco shook his head hard; he looked at Hermione again.

* * *

"Are you all right, Hermione?" Jake asked Hermione. They were still in the same position they were a minute ago. 

After making sure that the two were still alive, the black Hummer sneaked off, unnoticed.

"Who are you," Hermione stared dreamily at Jake, "Why are you still holding me?"

"Well, my name is Dra…Jake," Jake answered, "and you see, a car was about to hit you and I pulled you back into the sidewalk and you landed on me. This isn't as comfortable as it looks you know." Jake loosened his hold and looked down.

Hermione followed his eyes toward his pants. Her left knee was on his… privates.

_Crap, I thought that was his leg!_

Hermione immediately jumped off of Jake, causing him to understandably scream out in unimaginable pain.

Draco slowly got up with one hand on his knee and other gesturing for her to give him a few seconds. It took him a minute to recover his composure.

"You see, my friend Katy over there was telling me how interesting you were." Jake explained with the most offensive tone possible. "So I thought I'd come and introduce myself to you. This action ended with me saving your life and you making me sterile. Thanks a lot."

"Well I didn't need your help to start out with!" Hermione retaliated. "This is a damned parking lot! That car probably would have stopped without putting a scratch on me! As a matter of fact, I should sue you for sexual abuse!"

_I thought she was good at retaliations. _

"Now, now, is that a good way to treat a Good Samaritan? What will the general public think of you?" Jake pointed at Josh and Katy.

"I don't care what others think of me!" Hermione was in Jake's face now, standing on her toes. "I'm only here for one thing and as long as I accomplish that, nothing else matters."

_I didn't know she was so short. Man, I still can't tell the color of her eyes. _

"So, you're into the big picture. Small things don't matter to you?" Jake asked.

"Yes, if you want to know so much." Hermione was annoyed, still in his face.

Jake felt a sudden urge to kiss her. She was so close. He took her face with his hand and smacked his lip into hers.

"What the hell was that for!" Hermione was about to slap Jake.

"Now, before you slap me," Jake interrupted, "you said you were into the big picture. A small, meaningless kiss from me will not interfere with that big picture of yours."

Hermione slapped him hard across the face.

"Bloody hell was that for!" Jake yelled.

"You never told me not to slap you…" Hermione fainted.

Jake, a gentleman that he was, caught her immediately.

_She must have taken quite a fall.

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_

If that was a bit cliffy, sorry

As you noticed, I used a real person in this story. Sugar Land, Texas is also a real place. Why you ask. Well, a lot of this story is loosely based on real events and real people i know. Since it is, why not put some real stuff in the story, making it more realistic? Besides, I'm good at describing things I know. This way, I canput more energy into coming up withthe plot instead of wasting time thinking up setting and character traits. Real people's names are now all changed, don't sue.

I came up with a side story for Josh and Katy.  
Josh likes Katy, but Katy's sort of with Jake  
Jake meets Hermy; Katyrealizes Josh is the man of her life  
Josh, with help of Jake (no love potions), wins the love of Katy.

I'll add that into the plot as the story allows. Do yal think it's a good idea?

Please Comment!


	5. Introduction

Disclaimer: I only own the plot  
and remember that Jake is Draco  
You may find a name change if you've read this story before i changed them.  
It's for obvious reasons. i hope it wasn't too much trouble

**

* * *

**

**Introduction**

A bright beam of light shined into Hermione's eyes as she awoke from her deep slumber.

"Sorry, did I wake you up?" a familiar voice was heard.

_Malfoy?_

The owner of that voice was Jake, Hermione noticed as she turned her head toward the light.

"Where am I?" she asked.

"Good question." Jake answered. "You're lying on a hospital bed at Memorial Hospital Sugar Land Branch. Josh's dad works here and you fainted, so we brought you here to get checked out."

"I don't have any money…" Hermione blushed.

"Well, I said it was fine, but Jake here insisted upon paying for you." A doctor who appeared to be Josh's father walked in.

"We did use your resources and time, sir," Jake, whose last name turned out to be Alexander, explained, "You have to be compensated for it."

"Very polite of you Jake." The doctor smiled and turned his attention to Hermione again. "Nice to meet you Hermione, I'm Doctor McFarley, you may know me as Josh's father."

"Is there something wrong with me doctor?" Hermione asked.

"No, you're completely fine." Dr. McFarley replied warmly. "Excitement probably got to you. I heard you and Jake had quite a fight."

Hermione blushed. Jake on the other hand, seemed flattered.

_Oh, it was much more than a fight._ Jake smirked.

"Well," Josh's father continued, "Katy and Josh already left. Would you two like some time alone before you leave?"

Before Hermione could say no, Jake answered him yes. The doctor smiled and closed the room.

* * *

"So," Jake broke the silence, "How are you dear?" 

"I'm fine." Hermione replied. "The incident earlier today…"

"It was my fault." Jake interrupted. "I shouldn't have been so rude, but you know, pain makes people crazy." He let out a chuckle.

_What about that kiss you bastard?_

"No," Hermione lied, "it was my fault. You tried to help me and I kneed you where it hurts in return. I deserved everything you did to me."

"Shall we clean the slate and introduce ourselves officially?" Jake seemed to have forgotten the kiss entirely.

"Sure…"

"Well, to start off, I'm Jake." Jake offered his hand for a hand shake.

"I'm Hermione; it's nice to meet you." Hermione got up, took Jake's hand, and shook it.

"So I hear you're new in town; I'm new too." Jake smiled warmly.

_Malfoy never did that. _

* * *

As Jake drove Hermione back to Barnes & Nobles so she could get her car, they continued their chit chat. 

"So why did you move here?" Jake asked.

"Well, I'm here to look for someone." Hermione answered. "It's really between a friend and me."

"Sorry for asking." Jake sighed. "But why are you going to school then?"

"What else is there?" Hermione answered. "Why don't you go to school?"

"Well," Jake answered cockily, "I've set myself up for life. I didn't see the point."

_Very Malfoy like…_

"We're here" Jake said, as they reached Barnes & Nobles.

"Thanks for everything." Hermione was ready to open the car door.

"Wait." Jake stopped her. "Can I get your number or something? I heard you don't get out much. Maybe I could take you out sometime and just hang out? Have a few laughs together?"

_Finally, he pops the question. I was beginning to wonder._

"Well, Jake," Hermione answered slowly. "You see, you remind me of someone I know very well."

"Oh, really?" Jake seemed interested. "What was the relationship you had with this 'friend' of yours?"

"We weren't friends Jake;" Hermione sighed, "we hated each other."

"Oh"

_Should have guessed. _

"And as you see," Hermione continued, "I don't want to ruin that already perfect image of you formed in my head." She was being sarcastic.

"Gee" Jake asked, "do you say this to every guy who asks for your number?"

"No," Hermione giggled, "you're special."

"Thanks…"

"Besides," Hermione talked on, "you don't even go to my school. What's the point?"

"I suppose I won't be seeing you again." Jake said.

"I suppose so." Hermione answered.

A moment of silence passed. Hermione seemed bounded to her chair as if there was an unfinished business she needed to take care of.

"Jake?" Hermione broke the silence.

"Yes?" Jake answered.

"That kiss…"

Jake smiled.

"What kiss?" he answered.

"Aren't we just forgetful…" Hermione said, full of resentment.

"The person who kissed you wasn't himself." Jake smiled.

_The real me, Draco Malfoy, would never have done that. That was truly Jake Alexander. _

Hermione smiled back and got out of the car. She didn't expect to see him again.

* * *

Leave some comments! 


	6. Surprise Meeting Pt 2

YAY, another chapter!  
I had stomach virus this week...  
Anyways, I only own the plot which is overly influenced by stuff ive seen in my life

**

* * *

Surprise Meeting Pt.2**

A Week Later...

"I'm sorry honey; everything is so out of order lately."

Hermione was supposed to pay the rent for her apartment by the end of the day. Her parents paid her rent, but there had been some major problems with their account. Grangers weren't in financial trouble; they were a well to do family. But somehow, bank's money, some accounts, and other important papers simply "disappeared".

Britain was filled with problems now. Mails being stolen, people being kidnapped, computers being victims of a major spy-ware/virus outbreak, England was simply unsafe. The muggle general public believed that it was only a series of unrelated events due to a terribly run government and a crumbling infrastructure; but, the entire magical community knew that it was the dark lord you-know-who and his death-eaters being responsible for everything. Realizing that the order must be using alternative methods of communication, death-eaters were now stealing muggle mails and kidnapping computer wizards to track down e-mails. Even worse, they were now using the computer wizards to steal money from people's accounts in order to fund their evil plans.

Harry was now hiding in South Africa; his successful attempt to destroy the fifth Horcrux had weakened him dramatically. The only Horcruxes left was the dark lord himself and something else; no one except Voldemort knew what the other Horcrux was.

_That's why I have to find the dark lord's closest relative! _

The dark lord killed as mercilessly and viciously as ever, murdering increased number witches and warlocks. He knew five of the Horcruxes have been destroyed, but he didn't seem to care; he knew no one would find the other Horcrux..

_That's why I have to find a clue to his last Horcrux!_

"It's fine mom," Hermione replied, "I'll explain it to the land lord. I'm sure he'll understand."

* * *

Hermione knew she had a new land lord. It was Alex something, she thought as she walked toward his office. The old land lord had lived in the complex; the new one simply had an office here with "office hours". He supposedly lived in Sweetwater.

_Snobby little bugger..._

"J. M. Alexander...Office Hours: 9AM 5PM"

_Hmm...sounds familiar_

Hermione looked at the time on her cell phone. It was 4:30.

_Good enough. _

Hermione knocked on Mr. Alexander's door.

"Mr. Alexander, may I talk to you for a moment?" Hermione said out loud.

There was no answer.

_That lazy snob left during office hours...I should sue..._

As Hermione turned her back on the door, about to leave, Mr. Alexander's office door suddenly opened.

"Sorry about that, I fell asleep; I was up late last night." Hermione heard a playful, familiar voice behind her.

_Too familiar... and it can't be Malfoy..._

Hermione turned around. Her jaw fell to the ground in shock.

Jake Alexander was standing at the door.

"YOU OWN THIS PLACE?" Hermione was filled with despair.

* * *

It's a bit cliffy and short, sorry, but comment please

And i realize that the whole thing on what's going on in the war is a bit corny. But hey, i never made this to be a story about the war, it's about Hermy and Jake/Draco


	7. The Malfoy Game

**YAY! Another Chapter!**

Soul-Simplicity... yes, i know you love me... but when you review... do make a point?

Anyways, I only own the plot... a lot of it borrowed from stuff I've seen in real life, books, movies, etc etc. I don't think this chapter came from anything. It feels pretty original to me...I donno, haha.

Additionally, please do note that **Draco is still Jake**

**

* * *

The Malfoy Game **

"Are you gonna come in," Jake asked, "or are you gonna stand there, staring at me?"

Hermione was in her own world now.

Jacob M. Alexander, the land lord, waved his hand in the direct view of Hermione's eye sight. Hermione snapped back to reality.

"You never answered my question..." Hermione was shaking now, trying to hold herself back.

"Well, it does seem kind of obvious doesn't it?" Jake smirked, cocky as usual.

Hermione did not answer.

Jake waved her in and walked back into his office. He sat on his chair as Hermione walked in. Hermione looked around.

_TV, DVR, X-Box, refrigerator, computer, book shelves, magazines, posters, plants, rugs… I'm tired of looking... Well, I'm sure he's stacked, at least. _

The room it self was plain looking and large, but the land lord had put so much stuff in it that it looked small and crowded. A book was lying on top of his desk.

_Pride and Prejudice... rich, arrogant bastard and a poor, beautiful girl...never gonna happen. Not in a million years..._

Hermione sat in the chair across Jake.

"You knew I lived here..." Hermione finally spoke.

"Well, I knew a Granger lived here," Jake sniggered, "but it says it's a man on my residence list. The last time I checked, you didn't have a penis."

It was true. When Draco first bought the complex and read the list of residents, the first name that popped into his eyes was "Granger". He had ignored it as a mere coincidence, having never seen Hermione in the complex before. Once he met Hermione at Barnes & Nobles, it was obvious that the man was Hermione's father.

"My parents technically rented the place, but I'm the only one who lives here." Hermione explained.

"I see." Jake tried to look understanding.

"But,"Hermione continued, "after meeting me at Barnes& Nobles you should have known that I lived here. Why didn't you tell me that you owned this place?"

_Sharp girl isn't she... well, duh_

"Yes, I did realize you lived here, and I could have told you that I was your land lord," Jake explained, "but, if I had told you, you wouldn't view me as Jake, would you? You would only view me as your land lord. Did you expect me to be OK with that?"

_Huh? What does he mean by that?_

Long silence

"Anyways," Jake broke the silence that was getting torturously awkward. "What can I help you with?"

"The money," Hermione began, looking embarrassed, "is running a bit late. You see, my parents live in England, and every monetary infrastructure seems to be going haywire in that country at the moment. The money should be ready in a couple of days."

"So you won't be paying the rent by end of today?" Jake asked.

"It seems." Hermione avoided Jake's eyes.

_Well, she won't even look at me in the eyes. Let's play the Malfoy game shall we?_

"I guess you won't be living here for a couple of days then." Jake sniggered evilly. "Shall I help you take all of your stuff out?"

"WHAT?" Hermione was filled with enraged shock as she stared straight into Jake's eyes.

_What happened to just being late on the rent? Or two weeks notice?_

_Well, she finally looked at me in the eyes. _

"Oh, now you look at me." Jake smirked.

_Damn, I still can't tell the color of her eyes. Do I need glasses or something? I don't wanna end up like Harry Potty... and I can't blame bad lighting forever... For Merlin's sake why am I thinking about the color of her eyes to start out with? I should be initializing my plans to get Hermione to go out with me..._

"How's this?" Jake suggested. "If you go on a date with me, I will forget about your rent for the month."

Hermione was filled with disgust.

_Bloody bugger... _

"The money will be ready by 6 PM..." Hermione turn around, about to tear up, and walk out.

_I wonder if the bank will give me a loan... Is it still open? Do I have to go ask a neighbor for money? This is so embarrassing! WHY DOES BAD THINGS ALWAYS HAPPEN TO ME?_

_Perhaps I pushed it a little too far with the fooling-around._

"Hermione," Jake called.

"WHAT?" Hermione turned around; tiny drops of tear rolled down her eyes.

"Forget about your rent, period." Jake tried to smile.

_Huh...?Is he serious?_

"Thank you." Hermione said as she was about to leave the office.

_I still wanna know the color or her eyes... I need to stop being so bothered about that..._

"Can I ask you a question?" Jake stopped her.

"What?" Hermione tried to reply as patiently as possible.

"What's the color of your eyes?" Jake asked.

_My eyes?_

"It"s brown." Hermione was confused, but answered with a straight face.

_BROWN? What do you mean BROWN? I could have sworn I saw blue or green... _

Hermione was about to shut the door.

_Oh, bloody hell. I'm gonna ask for her number now. I don't think I'll get another chance anyway._

"Wait!" Jake stopped her, again.

"What?" Hermione seemed annoyed as she poked her head back into the office.

"Can I at least have your cell number?" Jake asked, showing the best puppy eyes a guy could possibly manage.

"You have my home phone number don't you?" Hermione was truly annoyed.

_Bloody hell, how did I not think of that?_

"Well, yes," Jake explained, trying to soothe Hermione's annoyance, "but, I only know that number because I'm your land lord. If I can get your cell number and call that, it will feel more... special."

_Please laugh! Please like my response! Reply something good! Anything positive! Please!_

"Well... that's too bad isn't it?" Hermione replied coldly and shut the door.

_Ouch... I did push too far._

* * *

YAY! Another chapter done! 

We'll see what happens next. It's not over yet.


	8. Past and Present Intertwine

**YES! I MANAGED ANOTHER CHAPTER!**

Anyways, this chapter was originally Katy and Josh only. Well, this story was originally non-Harry Potter to start out with, so that's why. But, I added some stuff on Hermione's and Ron's relationship so enjoy.

Oh, and I only own the plot, tho a lot of stuff might have been influenced by some pretty random stuff. Oh, the whole Katy/Josh thing in this story is based on a Myspace bulletin i read once. Yes, that's pretty sad. I know. But i thought it was good, so i editted it and stuck it in here.

Finally**, Draco is Jake**... still...wait 3 more months of story time (when Hermy realizes that Jake is Draco)... i don't know how much writing time that is yet...

**

* * *

Past and Present Intertwine: aka Agony and Bliss**

July 8th, 2005, at Hermione's house

Hermione Granger was angry. She was angry at Ronald Weasley. She wanted to jinx that weasel with every spell she could come up with. There were a lot of spells she could come up with.

Hermione Granger had just had a fight with her stubborn, fire-headed boyfriend.

It was a pointless fight that got carried away. Ron was only joking, and Hermione took it too personally. Ron had made a cruel joke about Hermione's hair, which used to be brown but was now turning lighter and more blonde like as she matured physically. He said she was turning into one of those American "dumb blondes". He was only joking; Hermione was too smart to be a dumb blonde. But Hermione took it offensively, and the joke turned into a fight, ahazardous nuclear warfare. It ended with Hermione walking out, crying, and not looking back. It ended with Ron just standing there, too much of a wuss to do anything about it.

_Well, I'm over it now. I over-reacted anyway. Now I just have to make up with him. Hmm... what to do... should I surprise him with sexy lingerie? Or maybe a nice bubble bath..._

Yes, they were doing it, lovingly. And surprisingly, Ron kept it even from Harry, whom he told everything to. Ron thought it was between Hermione and him. Hermione liked it that way.

As she apparated into her living room, she realized that no one was home.

_Mum and dad are probably out shopping..._

She climbed the stairs, heading toward the second floor, toward her room. She wondered whether it was safe to be alone in the house these days. She was a registered witch. And she was what those bloody buggers called "mud blood". But she wasn't really scared anymore. She had grown numb to the situation. She had faced too many dangers with Harry and Ron. And being the academic that she was, she was much more able to show a certain degree of calm in life threatening or tragic situations compared to the boys. She did survive two whole months in Hogwarts after all without crying, without any friends.

Hermione got to the second floor. And she noticed something strange and wonderful.

_Roses on the floor... leading into my room?_

Hermione followed the trail of roses into her bedroom, picking each of them up and smelling them as she went.

_I wonder what's inside..._

Hermione opened the door.

* * *

Seven and a half years ago, Spring of 1998, Sugar Land, Texas

Josh McFarley, the nine-year old Scottish soccer freak, and his parents, Benjamin and Martha McFarley, had just moved into their new house in Sugar Land, Texas, after living most of their lives in Austin, Texas. Benjamin McFarley was a doctor who had just accepted his new position in Houston Memorial Hospital Sugar Land Branch. Martha McFarley was a house-wife and a soccer mom.

Josh was an exceptional soccer player. On the field as the right mid-fielder, everyone expected him to be the leader; he was. The problem was that off the field, he was the exact opposite. Josh was always friendly, but he was not a great conversationalist. He didn't have the talent like the other children to break the ice. It took him a while to make friends when he lived in Austin; Josh's parents feared Josh would not make any friends in Sugar Land.

Josh was a thinker, and he found walking a good time to think. Finished with packing, he decided to take a walk around his new neighborhood; to also get a feel for it.

It was a lot better than his old neighborhood. Other than teenagers who drove their cars too fast, it was quite safe. The grass was greener, the houses were newer, and trees were taller.

_I wonder if I'd make any friends here..._

Josh walked for around for 20 minutes.

_Serenity Blvd..._

Passing the street, Josh saw a little girl about his age riding a bike toward his direction. She was a short, red-haired girl wearing a pink tank-top and white shorts. She stopped in front of his path. The sun gleamed toward her face; she had enchanting blue eyes.

_She's beautiful. _

"Hi," the beautiful little girl said as she opened her lips.

Josh was silent.

"I see you're new around here." The Girl was not discouraged by The Boy's silence. "I'm Katy, what's your name?"

"Uh..." Josh finally snapped out of his trance. "I'm...I'm..."

Katy giggled.

"I'm Josh." Josh blushed.

"Hi, Josh, it's nice to meet you." Katy smiled.

Time passed...

Josh and Katywere best friends for the next four years. Josh became an excellent talker, but he never told her what he really thought of her.

* * *

Katy's diary, four years later

_March 24th, 2002_

_Dear diary _

_I can't seem to stop thinking about Josh these days. It's strange, he's my best friend, but when I see him, talk to him, think about him, I feel all weird inside. It's like he's invading my head. Why can't I stop thinking about him? Is this what falling in love feels like? Am I falling in love with Josh? _

_NO! He doesn't see me that way, I don't see him that way either! He's my BEST FRIEND! _

_Or is he? _

_I see girls in school getting boyfriends and I'm a bit jealous. My mom says I'm too young to think about stuff like that. I suppose she's right. But I can't stop thinking about it. Am I wanting too much? _

_I wonder if I hang out with other boys more, my feelings would change. I don't like this hopeless, sad feeling. I wonder what would happen if I see other boys. I wonder what would happen if Josh wasn't my best friend. _

_I wonder..._

* * *

Present Day (Saturday), October 8th, 2005: Josh and Katy are now juniors

"_I'm sorry, Katy, I... I just can't," Jake said._

"_Is it Hermione?" I asked._

"_Yes..." Jake quietly replied. "It's Hermione."_

_A pause_

"_I'm sorry, Katy," Jake continued. "I can't continue dating you while liking someone else. It's not fair for either of us."_

Those were Jake's words as he declined Katy to be her homecoming date.

_He'd rather sit at home than to go dancing with me..._

Katy felt alone and miserable, sitting in her cold, lonely house. Her parents were out of town, so she had no one in the house to talk to.

She could have hung out with her best friends. Katy had a close-nit group of friends, but each one of them had a date.

Each one of them would have cancelled their date to comfort Katy in a heartbeat; each of them offered, but Katy told them to go have fun instead. She would be fine at home, alone.

_Damn, I should have asked for them to stay..._

Katy broke into tears. Sitting on her comfortable couch, she looked around the living room. She saw a picture of her with Josh; they were at Josh's soccer game few years ago.

_I wonder..._

* * *

Josh heard his cell phone ring. 

"Hello?" Josh answered.

He heard a sniffle. It sounded like a girl, a girl who had just been crying. It sounded familiar.

"Katy?" Josh asked.

"Hi, Josh," Katy sniffled.

"What's up?" Josh continued the questioning. "Are you alright?"

"I feel miserable." Katy sobbed.

"I'll be right over." Josh hung up.

_Wow, I didn't even have to ask. Have I been taking him for granted?_

Katy let out a tiny smile.

* * *

Josh and Katy ended up watching The Notebook, and Mr. Deeds to soothe Josh's lack of enthusiasm for it. 

_Well, I did like it; but, I can't let her know, can I? _Josh smiled.

Josh actually picked Mr. Deeds for Katy. Though it was quite vulger, Adam Sandler movies always had those chick-flicky, heart warming endings.

_Damn, she's beautiful, even when she looks miserable with make up drenched in tears. _

"How are you feeling now?" Josh looked at Katy.

Katy was in his arms now, her head resting on his chest as they lay comfortably on Katy's couch. It had been a night filled with overused "aww's". Josh wished it would last forever.

"I'm a little better." Katy replied. "I'm still bummed I won't have a date for homecoming though."

"Well, at least the Astros won today." Josh referred to the Houston Astros' 7-3 victory over the Atlanta Braves on the third game of the National League Division Series.

_What the hell am I doing? Talking about the Astros in a situation like this..._

"Haha" Katy replied sarcastically.

_It's now or never..._

"Katy," Josh began uncomfortably, "why don't you go to homecoming with me?"

"Huh?" Katy looked at Josh with shock.

_Oh, crap..._

_Oh, my God! I can't believe he just asked me!_

"I mean, as friends, you know?" Josh blushed. "We can have fun, and you can tell me how terrible Jake is."

_Oh..._

"I'd love to go to the homecoming dance with you," Katy smiled, "but you're buying the tickets and you better come see me perform during homecoming game, even if our football team sucks."

"Fine." Josh smiled.

"I'm still can't believe Jake likes Hermione more than he likes me." Katy sighed. "He doesn't even know her that well."

_Damn it, Katy, forget about Jake!_

"You know what? Why don't you convince Hermione to bring Jake to homecoming dance?" Josh suggested.

"Huh?" Katy was once again filled with utter shock.

"Then," Josh continued, "You can show him how quickly you've gotten over him and how much better I am in satisfying your emotional needs."

"You're his best friend." Katy giggled.

"He'll get over it." Josh ended with a smile.

* * *

Their night together was over; it was getting late and they had Church the next morning. Katy opened the door for him as Josh walked out of her house. 

"Josh?" Katy stopped him.

"Yeah?" Josh turned around.

Katy gave Josh a hug and kissed him on his cheek. She was on her tip-toes. She was short like Hermione; like Jake, Josh was a bit tall compared to her.

"Thank you so much, Josh." Katy said as she held Josh in her arms; as Josh held her in his arms. "You're the best friend a girl could ask for."

After a long hug, they parted ways. Katy closed her door as Josh walked back to his car.

_She only thinks of you as her friend._

_He only thinks of you as his friend._

They sighed simultaneously.

Of course, they didn't know.

* * *

Same night, at Hermione's apartment 

Hermione finally drove into her parking lot after another night of clue searching.

_Another night of unproductive clue searching..._

Hermione was tired. Hermione was still angry toward Jake Alexander, her cocky and rude land lord.

_He had no right to say those things to me, even if he was my land lord and gave me a month of free rent..._

She was in front of her doorstep now. She thought she heard a faint popping sound. She thought she was just hearing things.

Unlocking her door, she entered her apartment. She noticed something strange and wonderful.

_Roses on the floor... leading into my bedroom?_

Hermione followed the trail of roses into her bedroom, picking each of them up and smelling them as she went.

_I wonder what's inside..._

Hermione opened her bedroom door.

A teddy bear was on her bed.

_Wow… all the roses just for a teddy bear..._

Then, she noticed that the teddy bear had something with him. It was a "him" she thought; brown was more of a male color.

A pretty red string ran around the teddy bear's neck. The two ends were tied up into two holes on a white envelope.

The envelope stated: "To Hermione Granger, from Jake Alexander".

_Jake did this?_

Hermione unattached the envelope from the string and opened it. Inside there was a letter.

_Dear Hermione Granger,_

_I'm sure you're wondering why I did this. Well, to tell you the truth, I feel tremendously guilty about what I did to you. And I feel guilty about bothering you with stupid childish questions also. _

_I know we've gotten off at the wrong end. I never really meant for that to happen. It's just that you're so different from the other girls. I simply don't know what to do. _

_I'm sorry I'm not apologizing to you in person. I'm quite stubborn and I'm not sure if I'm ready to do that just yet. Besides, I'm a terrible talker when it comes to a situation like this. I thought a meaningful letter would save a lot of awkward silences I hate so much._

_I hope we can be friends. I really do. It's completely fine that you don't feel the same way about me like the way I feel about you. _

_With that in mind, I present to you this teddy bear. As long as you keep this teddy bear, I promise I will never pursue you and always treat you like the lady that you are. I promise I will be as harmless as this teddy bear. _

_I'm sorry for everything,_

_Jacob M. Alexander_

Reading the letter, Hermione took the teddy bear and embraced it in her arms.

Then, she walked toward her bedroom drawer and put the teddy bear on top of it, next to another teddy bear, a teddy bear she had gotten exactly three month ago from Ron as an apology gift.

_He's just like Ron... He isn't as Malfoy-like as I thought he was, was he?_

Hermione smiled, and undressed herself, preparing to take a shower.

She thought of Jake as she showered, singing to the Weird Sisters. Somehow, Jacob M. Alexander seemed so familiar, yet not at all. She couldn't help but to think Jake was Draco Malfoy. But, they were nothing alike, physically.

She was sure of one thing anyways. Jake, though capable of acting like Malfoy as she supposed, thought and acted quite like Ronald Weasley.

_He's just a blonde Ronnie. _

After the shower, Hermione went straight to bed.

She decided that shower was officially the place for her to think. To think about Jake.

* * *

YAY! DONE! 

Leave some suggestions and reviews if you have time.


	9. Decisions and Discussions

**YAY LOOOONG CHAPTER DONE!**

There might be somethings here that you want explainations for, I'll answer them, i promise, later

Also, Draco is still Jake, remember that**

* * *

**

**Decisions and Discussions**

Ronald Weasley's weakened body laid feebly on one of the hospital beds of St. Mungo's. Hermione sat next to his bed, holding his hand tightly in hers. Ron had been in a coma for days. Everyone was tremendously tired, and took shifts watching Ron's progress. Hermione had taken up a double shift, pleading the Weasleys to give her more time with him.

Ron had risked his life in unlocking Ravenclaw's necklace. It took them ages to track it down. But upon realizing that R.A.B was Regulus Black, Ron trespassed into the abandoned Malfoy mansion, looking for the necklace Sirius's house elf had hidden there.

No one ever figured out how, but Ron had somehow already managed to destroy the necklace by the time Hermione, Harry, and Professor McGonagall had gotten there. But the necklace was destroyed at a great cost; Ron was now in a coma, slowly fading into the afterlife.

_Please don't take Ron away from me... Take my very own heart and put it in him. Just don't take this boy. _

Hermione prayed in her mind as she faded into slumber. She hadn't slept for three days.

Hermione didn't know how long she had been asleep; but, she was awakened by a sudden twitch. It was Ron's hand she was holding. Ron's eyes were open.

"Ron?" Hermione shot up.

"Hermione!" Ron continued to stare at the ceiling.

His eyes were strange. His eyes were colorlessly blank; Ron was blind.

"Hermione! I can see you!" Ron continued to talk out loud, staring blankly at the ceiling. "I...AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

Suddenly, Ron started to scream, convulsing in his bed.

"Ron!" Hermione began crying with worry. "Somebody help!"

But her cry could not be answered. There were simply too many patients and too little healers. The Second War had created a deficit of healers, a profession that was extremely difficult to get into.

_What's going to happen to you Ron? Please don't leave me, I can't live without you!_

"Hermione..." Ron managed to speak as he continued convulsing.

"Yes, Ron" Hermione held on to Ron's hand tightly, leaning over him, trying to stop the convulsion, tears rolling out of her eyes. "Please talk to me, Ron, I love you."

"Hermione," Ron began. "I love you."

Yes! I know that already! Tell me what's going on! I hate not knowing what's going on. Tell me that you'll be fine! Please say something! Say something good!

"I know you do, Ron" Hermione sobbed. "Please, just tell me that you're going to be fine."

"Please, Hermione," Ron seemed to ignore everything Hermione was saying; he was in too much pain to hear anything, it seemed. "Please don't forget about me."

"Ron!" Hermione was full of despair. "Don't talk like that! Healers are going to come soon! They're going to make everything alright."

Suddenly, Ron's chest shot up as Ron let out a screeching scream; this knocked Hermione to the ground, staring, bewildered, at her lover's terrible pain.

"Hermione!" Ron sounded different, he was sobbing. "Don't leave me! Where are you?"

"I'm right here!" Hermione crawled back to Ron's bed. "I'm here, Ron!"

"Get me out of here!" Ron screamed at her.

_What?_

"What do you want me to do?" Hermione asked, confused by this new voice of Ron's.

"I need you to perform one spell on me." Ron smiled; his convulsing calmed a bit. Strangely, his smile looked evil.

"Tell me what I need to do!" Hermione ignored the look. "I'll do anything you want!"

"I need you," Ron's smile grew bigger. "I need you to perform the soul-splitting spell on me."

"That's dark magic!" Hermione was bewildered once again.

"Hermione," Ron pleaded. "It's the only way to save me!"

_I have to do it; it_'_s the only way to save him._

"Ok," Hermione gulped. "I'll do it."

Hermione took out her wand and backed up a few steps. She took a deep breath.

_Splitting spells must be performed silently. Like other Dark Magic, it must be cast with strong emotion. It_'_s certainly doable enough. _

But, all of a sudden, Ron began convulsing again.

"HERMIONE!" Ron screamed; his normal voice was back. "DON'T DO IT!"

_What now?_

"Ron?" Hermione asked, worried. "What's going on."

"Hermione."Ron was tremendously weak; the convulsion was strong again. "After I die, please learn how to move on."

"What?"

"One of these days, you're gonna come across another idiot like me who's in love with you." Ron ignored her question. "Promise me that you'll give him a chance. Don't let him suffer through what we suffered through to get to this point."

"Ron," Hermione began crying again. "You're not going to die! I'll just perform that spell you asked me to cast."

"NO!" Ron screamed, convulsion strong as ever before. "The horcrux! You can't! I have to die!"

_The horcrux? It was destroyed._

"Please, Hermione," Ron continued. "Please promise me that you will give the guy a chance!"

"Yes," Hermione sobbed. "Yes, Ron, I promise."

"I'll always love you." Ron smiled through the pain. "I'll always be watching out for you. But you must leave me and move on."

"No, Ron, don't say that!"

"I love you." Ron faded away. "Good bye."

Ron's body shook for the last, fatal time. Blood flowed out of his eyes like tears as his eyes became pitch black.

Hermione shot up from her bed, awakening from her terrible nightmare.

* * *

Morning, at school

Hermione didn't know why she always came so early to school in the mornings. She drove a car, and her classes didn't start until 7:30. She didn' really have any close friends to hang out or walk around with. She didn't really have any friend to talk to, period. She looked at one of the clocks as she entered one of the halls of her school. The hall looked square and colorlessly dull, except for the maroon colored lockers lined systematically to end of the hall. The cream colored brick walls and floor made her feel like she was in a mental institution. The flat, round clock with a black frame stuck out of the wall on the right, near the ceiling. It seemed to have stopped ticking.

_2:30... Does that mean I get to go home?_

The clocks in the hallways seemed as if they never worked. Hermione wondered why she bothered to even look.

_Hogwarts never had a problem like this..._

That was the truth. Hogwarts never had a problem like that; everything worked magically. If one couldn't find a clock, one could have simply asked one of the portraits. Hermione felt spoiled by magic. Technical difficulties never bothered her until she got drained into the magical world. She had gotten… lazy, physically at least. Fearing that physical laziness would lead to procrastination, she took up dancing during her years in Hogwarts. She was never really that good though, she had coordination problems, until she took the dance class high school, a real high school. Her stamina and coordination improved dramatically.

Hermione scrambled through the inside contents of her cream-colored book bag, looking for her cell phone.

_6:50... yes, I thought so. _

Hermione had come dreadfully early to school, as usual, and once again found herself clueless to what to do with her spare time. She could always study or read. She usually did nothing but that, especially in Hogwarts. That had always made Harry and Ron complain; she knew they'd much prefer to do something other than studying with her.

They would be surprised to know that Hermione had finally gotten lazy, academically. School was simply too easy for her now, even if she had missed six years of formal schooling. She did not feel like doing much work for school.

_Senioritis they call it?_

That wasn't necessarily true though. Hermione wasn't technically lazy. She would spent countless hours trying to find any clues regarding You Know Who's last Horcrux. She hadn't made a single discovery yet; it was much harder than she thought it would be. But this challenged her; it drove her to search harder; it was no wonder she didn't bother much with school work, even though she still completed everything with perfection.

_Library again I suppose. I shall waste my time reading. _

Just as she was about to turn toward the library, she was suddenly stopped by a realization that her book was in her locker in the second floor. Hermione turned around and climbed up the main stair case.

Once she got upstairs, she walked toward her locker near the dance room. She noticed a familiar figure. It was the figure of the girl who had once asked her to join the dance team. It was the figure of Katy O'Toole.

"Hey, Hermione," Katy initialized the conversation as she walked toward the opposite direction of Hermione's.

Katy had a smile in her face. Katy was a pretty girl with a pretty smile. Hermione knew that. But, Katy's smile seemed a bit sly, as if she wanted something.

_Just walk away, past her... _

"Hi" Hermione replied and attempted to get on with her business.

But Katy stopped directly in Hermione's path, forcing Hermione to stop out of politeness.

"How are you?" Katy continued, "We haven't talked since that whole thing with Jake at Barnes & Nobles!"

_Way to remind me of that nightmare. _

"Yeah," Hermione tried to be nice. "I'm fine; everything seems to be going well."

"That's great! How's everything between you and Jake?" Katy moved directly into the subject of her inquiry.

_Aren_'_t we just direct with our questions... ?_

"Umm... I don't know." Hermione shrugged.

Hermione had a cute shrug. Yes, a cute shrug. It wasn't her figure that exactly made her look cute, though she actually was very pretty looking. It was that countenance she put on her face every time she shrugged, the way she tilted her head on her shoulder, causing it to press up against her cheek. It was that clueless and indifferent to the world child-like visage that Ron first fell in love with. Hermione may have been a total nerd, but her expression made all the difference in the world. She knew that; Ron had told her that countless times, before he died. She knew he had died; she forced herself to feel nothing for it everyday, every night. She didn't know that another boy, technically a man, had fallen in love with that same thing. He wondered weather she would ever find out.

"Oh, come on." Katy laughed. "I saw the way he flirted with you."

"I found him to be a bit rude." Hermione was astonished to find that such vulgar actions were called flirting. Even Victor was better than that.

_Yeah, he did go little over the top. He acted nothing like I expected him to act. I suppose he really like this girl. _

"Oh, he's always playing around," Katy made up an excuse for Jake, whom she never knew was Draco. "He never means any harm by any of them."

"He was being so obnoxious, cruel, and cocky." Hermione grumbled. "He's so rude."

"_Promise me that you_'_ll give him a chance._"_ Ron had said._

"You know, most girls find him to be funny." Katy gave a sincere smile. "He can be cruel with his comments at times, but he always ends up doing something that completely makes your day, making up for all the things he says to you."

"Sounds like you really like him." Hermione stared at Katy's eyes penetratingly.

_I do like him... I think._

Katy seemed to have realized that it was impossible for her to have Jake now. She never realized how much Jake liked Hermione until she tried convincing Hermione that he did. Katy was strong in her resolve, though; she was going to get the job done.

"He's all yours, Hermione" Katy managed another sincere smile. "It's you that he wants. So give him a chance. I see you around at school; I know you're depressed over something. Jake's gonna make you forget all about it."

_Sigh… must I continue with this debate... ?_

"You see," Hermione sighed. "The truth is that Jake reminds me of a guy I hated tremendously in the school I used to attend. And I just kinda got off a really serious relationship. I still need to get over that."

"Really," Katy was surprised, but it explained a lot on why she kept declining dates. "What happened?"

_Must I answer this... ?_

"Well, he sort of left" Hermione sighed.

_He did leave... for another world._

"Aww," Katy became tremendously sympathetic. "He left you? You must be heart-broken."

_Stop with the sympathy talk. I don_'_t want to think about Ron... _

_Crap; that sounded tremendously like one of Josh_'_s sarcasms... _

"I'll live." Hermione managed a smile.

"Then use Jake as a rebound!" Katy brightened up with her great idea. "Besides, just because he reminds you of a guy you hate, it doesn't mean he is the guy. Remember, he's innocent until proven guilty."

_She just won_'_t give up._

"Fine, I'll think about it." Hermione lied.

Katy revealed the biggest smile she could possibly manage.

_SCORE!_

"Ask him to the homecoming dance," Katy suggested. "I know he really wants to go with you."

"We'll see." Hermione shrugged.

As Katy was about to turn around, Hermione had the urge to find out why Katy was doing this. Hermione knew Katy liked Jake, but now she was trying to get Hermione and Jake together. Hermione was a curious girl. She just had to know everything.

"Why are you doing this, Katy?"

"Because I do care about his feelings," Katy smiled. "I know he can be an ass at times, but he does have a heart and he's pretty sensitive."

"_Don_'_t let him suffer through what we suffered through to get to this point._"_ Ron had said._

"How can a guy be anal and sensitive at the same time?"

"Well," Katy looked all-knowing. "Believe it or not, he's been much less anal since he met you. That means he likes you a lot."

"He doesn't even know me." Hermione's face looked a bit disgusted. "How can he like me so much?"

"Don't you believe in love at first sight?" Katy smiled.

That was a hypocritical statement. Katy gave up on the whole idea more than three years ago. She'd be with Josh, instead of trying to be with Jake, if there was something called love at first sight.

"I did," Hermione felt depressed again. "But look what happened."

_Damn, she reminded me of Ron again..._

"Oh."

_Crap, I just screwed things over didn_'_t I?_

"_But you must leave me and move on._"_ Ron had said. _"_I promise_"_ you had said to Ron._

"But," Hermione finally managed a sincere smile. "I'll give him a chance."

"Good!" Katy smiled, turned around and walked away.

"There has to be more to him liking me than a love at first sight thing right?" Hermione stopped Katy from walking away.

Katy turned her face around and laughed.

"Sure, Hermione," Katy jokingly replied. "I just made that up. I can't have him 'til he dumps you."

"Gee, how nice of you." Hermione made a face at her.

Then, both of their expressions transformed into a warm smile.

They parted ways.

* * *

That night

"Hey, Jake" a voice came out of Draco Malfoy's cell phone. "What's up?"

"Hey, Josh," Draco replied, knowing he was Jake. "I'm just sitting around."

"Good!" Josh seemed happy. "A lot of us are going to Nick's house to hang out. There's gonna be beers and hot chicks and everything. We need you to fire up the party man!"

_You don't even drink, Josh... nor do you ever have casual sex..._

"Haha," Jak's life was filled with beer party these days. And the best part was that he could always keep all the cops away using his magic. "Alright, I'll be there in a few minutes."

"K," Josh said. "I'll see you later"

"Alright," Jake replied. "See ya."

As Jake hung up his phone, an AIM message popped up on his computer screen. It was a screen name he had never seen before.

_ScotsBlonde06?_

ScotsBlonde06: Hey, is this Jake?

JMAlexTheGrt: yeah whos this?

ScotsBlonde06: This is Hermione

JMAlexTheGrt: really

ScotsBlonde06: really

JMAlexTheGrt: i didn't know you had a aim account

ScotsBlonde06: you mean "an". And yes, I do, I suppose.

JMAlexTheGrt: how u find me?

ScotsBlonde06: I asked Katy.

JMAlexTheGrt: ic... wut u want? last time I checked, u didn"t wanna talk to me

ScotsBlonde06: Well, this isn't really talking. It's technically writing.

JMAlexTheGrt: right...

ScotsBlonde06: Anyways, I need a date for Homecoming Dance. Take it or leave it.

JMAlexTheGrt: huh?

ScotsBlonde06: Will you be my date for Homecoming? Is that so hard to ask?

JMAlexTheGrt: well, i dont even know if this is Hermione to start out with...

ScotsBlonde06: well, it is, trust me.

JMAlexTheGrt: well, prove it by giving me ur cell number

ScotsBlonde06: um, no. But I can tell you something only I would know.

JMAlexTheGrt: wuts that?

ScotsBlonde06: You asked for my eye color and I told you that it was brown.

JMAlexTheGrt: hmm...

ScotsBlonde06: Oh, come on! That"s got to be good enough!

JMAlexTheGrt: fine, I'll go to homecoming wit u

ScotsBlonde06: Now that's what I'm talking about.

JMAlexTheGrt: ill pick you up at 6?

ScotsBlonde06: Sure, why not; and, you're buying the tickets.

JMAlexTheGrt: fine but u better make urself look good

ScotsBlonde06: I always look good. Isn't that why you like me so much in the first place?

JMAlexTheGrt: well looks aint everythin

ScotsBlonde06: Gee, thanks.

JMAlexTheGrt: aight, i gtg

ScotsBlonde06: Ok, bye.

JMAlexTheGrt has signed off

_I didn't even get a chance to ask where he was going._

_Well, if I told her where I was going and what I was doing, she would never talk to me again, would she?_

* * *

Review if you have time. 


	10. Cause and Effects

New Chapter Done!

**Draco's still Jake**

review if you have time.

**

* * *

Cause and Effects Draco's dilemma**

Nick Mason's House, Few Hours Later

Ever since the big bust of 2004, rich, spoiled Sugar Landers changed their party spot every month or so, due to the cops' unpredictability. But, many were beginning to call the Mason Mansion their new party headquarters because somehow, cops always ignored it.

What everyone didn't know, was that around the time Nick's house was chosen for the hard-core under-age drinkers, Jake M. Alexander had joined the party scene, followed by his friend Josh McFarley. Jake had enchanted Nick's house, so that no figure of authority would be able to go with in 30 yards of the house.

"So I can expect some generous contribution from you for homecoming?" a girl, putting her jacket back on, said as she walked out of the guest bedroom with none other than Jake Alexander.

"Very generous contributions, Angela" Jake smiled.

_What the hell am I doing?_

Jake was a party animal; it was in his blood. Though he greatly desired Hermione, he couldn't stop himself from falling to the temptations of the partying rich.

He had made an excuse for today's action. He wanted Hermione to experience a memorable homecoming, which meant he would have to contribute a great deal for the school event. But he had too much pride to simply help in the name of school spirit. He had never attended the high school to start out with. So, he exchanged a generous donation for sex. It was extremely dishonorable of Draco, even in a former-death eater's standards.

His conscience kicking in, Draco took a bottle of vodka and wondered into to a dark, unnecessarily large bathroom to reflect over his mortal sins.

_Silencing my conscience through consuming alcohol... how hypocritical of me... but at least homecoming will be great._

A bottle of Jack Daniels rolled next to Draco's feet; Draco turned on the light switch.

"Josh?" Draco was surprised. He had never seen Josh drinking before.

Josh didn't notice though, he was too drunk to notice anything. He was in his little own world now.

"She doesn't like me" Josh muttered to himself. "Why do I even bother?"

_Well, I really screwed up their relationship didn_'_t I...?_

"I wish Jake wasn't a complete idiot," Josh continued. "I wish he could see what the hell is going on.

"Why is he my best friend to start out with? He needs to get a God damned heart.

"Why did he take Katy from me?" Josh was now tearing up. "That son of a mother effing btch!" Josh threw an empty bottle at the bathroom wall, shattering it close to Draco, who didn't flinch.

Draco sighed. Taking his wand out, he walked toward the drunk and tearful Josh and leaned over him.

"Josh," Draco began. "I'm sorry for everything. I should have been a better friend to you after all that you've done for me. Katy loves you, Josh, not me. No one's going to take her away from you. Take your shot; she's open. Oh, and don't you ever drink again; you don't wanna end up like me."

With that, Draco waved his wand at Josh. Few sparks sprinkled over Josh's body as Josh fell into a deep slumber.

_That should keep him from having a hangover. _

Throwing his unfinished vodka bottle into the trash, Draco flicked off the light switch and walked out of the bathroom.

_I quit drinking._

Everyone was partying downstairs now. Draco heard music and excited screaming. Nick was probably doing something crazy again. Draco wondered into another empty room and looked out of the window, staring at the driveway.

Jake was knocked down by a splitting headache.

* * *

"YOU ARE GOING TO KILL EVERYONE HERE, DRACO!" a screeching voice was heard from inside Draco's head.

"ARRGGH!" Draco rolled around on the floor in pain.

"YOU ARE GOING TO KILL THAT MUD-BLOOD GRANGER," the voice continued. "YOU ARE GOING TO SERVE THE DARK LORD VOLDEMORT."

_Who are you?_

"WHO AM I?" the voice read his mind. "I AM YOU, DRACO. I'M THE VOICE INSIDE YOU. I AM THE PURE BLOOD, THE TRUE WIZARD IN YOU. YOU WOULD BE A WORTHLESS PIECE OF SCUM WITHOUT ME."

_Get out of my head!_

"GET OUT OF YOUR HEAD?" the voice intensified the pain in Draco's head. "I SHALL NOT TOLERATE YOUR INSOLENCE. DIDN'T YOU HEAR WHAT I SAID? YOU ARE NOTHING WITHOUT ME. YOU ARE GOING TO FOLLOW YOUR DESTINY. YOU ARE GOING TO DO YOUR JOB."

_No! I_'_m not a death-eater! I don_'_t want to serve the Dark Lord!_

"I SHALL KILL YOU FOR YOUR INSOLENCE!"

Draco passed out in pain.

* * *

Draco woke up with a terrible headach.

_Bloody hell; was I having a nightmare?_

Draco got up and looked at his watch; only twenty minutes had passed since he left the bathroom. Draco looked out the window.

He saw flashes. A police car stopped in front of Nick's house. The cops were about to bust Nick's party.

_Oh, bloody bugger... my enchantment somehow wore off..._

"Jake!" someone yelled at him from the hall. "We gotta get out of here!"

"Just go!" Draco, disguised as Jake turned around. "I gotta go take care of Josh!"

"Josh's knocked out?" the guy was bewildered. "He's never drunk!"

"Well," Jake continued. "He is now! Just go!"

The person ran off.

Memorizing the cops' positions, Draco opened the window and jumped out right onto the path of the cops. In middle of the jump, he waved his wand so that all the street lamps were turned off; the street became pitch black.

Landing on the ground, Draco immediately launched a handful of _Stupefy_ at the pre-determined positions of the cops, causing them to freeze. He then followed this with a memory charm and a memory modification charm for each of the policemen. Finally, he re-enchanted the Mason mansion, Nick's house.

Putting back his wand, Draco noticed that the street lamps were coming back on. The freezing curse had also worn off.

"Uhh, hi," Nick nervously walked out of his house, trying to figure out how to deal with the cops. "Can I help you?"

"Oh, hello," one cop, whom Draco assumed to be the one in charge, stupidly replied. "I don't know, actually. As a matter of fact, I don't really remember why we're here in the first place. But I can tell you that this place looks clean and perfect."

"Thank you, sir" Nick smiled. Draco stood there, silently.

Soon the cops drove off.

"What a dumb-ass" Nick laughed.

* * *

CIA Headquarters, Magical Technology Division

"Sir?" a low-ranked agent called for his boss. "There have been some strange magical activities in a place called Sugar land, Texas."

"Misuse of magical technology?" Agent Michaels asked.

"No, sir" the low-ranked agent, Agent Thomas, replied. "It's pure magic."

"I thought no wizards lived in that area?" Agent Michaels inquired.

"The last time I checked," Agent Thomas answered. "There were no wizards living in that area, sir."

_What the hell is going on?_

"Shall we contact the FBI, sir? Agent Thomas asked.

"No," Agent Michaels quickly answered. "The FBI magical investigation division is just a bunch of pussies. We'll take care this on our own."

"Shall we send a few agents, sir?" Agent Thomas inquired.

"Not for now." Agent Michaels sighed. "Just keep a close watch on that town. And figure out who's responsible for using magic."

"Yes, sir!"

As Agent Michaels walked out of the room, he wondered.

_There hasn_'_t been any powerful pure magic used in that area since... that incident..._

* * *

I'll go more in depth with some of the stuff above later, at a better timing.


	11. The Unknowing Squib

**The Unknowing Squib **

History of Magic, Draco's Fourth Year 

The History of Magic professor once again babbled on, transfiguring the usually interesting subjects, like wars, into mind-numbing, sleep-inducing ones. At the moment, the boring old magician was discussing the war between the genie summoners and the ring users in Ancient Arabia. As usual, most of the students were sleeping, including Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, and Draco Malfoy. Hermione Granger, as usual, listened intently and took notes. Neville Longbottom, on the other hand, looked confused.

''I thought wizards only used wands?'' Neville dumbly asked.

The Professor Binns looked annoyed; he had explained that subject yesterday.

''Would anyone kindly explain to Mr. Longbottom for me the answer to that question?" the teacher looked around.

_Sigh. No one ever listens. _

Right at that moment, the disgruntled teacher noticed a tiny hand waving frantically in the air. The owner of that hand was none other than Hermione Granger.

''Yes, Ms. Granger. Please explain." The ghost looked pleased as he woke up sleeping students by gliding through them, including Draco, who in the future became known as Jacob M. Alexander.

''Over the past century, the wand has become the primary and most conventional tool of spell castors; but, other methods existed such as rings, staffs, and other enchanted items.

''Ancient elf and goblin smiths developed the magical rings. The ancient race deemed the ring useful because it magically enhanced weapons and technologies without the need for enhancing spells. Elves used their rings in magically boosting the strength of their bows and arrows as well as enhancing their natural ability to tap into nature's mana pool, something humans can not do. Goblins, on the other hand, used the rings in increasing their mining productivity as well as enhancing their abilities to tap into the mana pool.

''Of course, humans began using the rings. Though we couldn't tap into nature's mana pool, rings provided certain advantages for certain types of wizards. Seers considered the rings useful as it clarified their vision, allowing them to give more specific, detailed predictions. The rings made it easier for wizards to use runes and make potions. But the most important use of the rings was for magical warfare. Rings do not require the wizards to draw, making them ready for a fight at any moment. Also, rings can not be disarmed unless broken.

''Staffs were the original wands which originated here in Europe. Based on Latin, spells using staffs can be cast the same way we do with spells using wands. The staff provided an advantage to wizards in its heyday because the intensity of a spell cast by a staff is higher the one by a wand. In that case, size did matter, I suppose.

''There are other tools, as anything can be enchanted to perform spells, but they tend to be inefficient or unreliable. Rings and staffs were very popular until wands replaced them entirely at the turn of the last millennium."

''Why were they replaced?" Neville asked.

''Wands did not replace staffs, but did upgrade them, because to be exact, wands are just a miniature version of staffs. Staffs, being so large, lacked the speed wands provided. In battle, staffs are rendered useless by the weaker, but quicker wands. And now, magical technology has developed enough that the difference in intensity between spells cast by staffs and ones by wands is now negligible.

''One can not compare the usefulness of a ring and a wand. Made by elves and goblins, the ring spells are not Latin based, meaning the wizard must learn a new set of spells in order to use one. Ring spells are quite long, so one would expect this to be the reason for its disappearance; but, it's not. Ring provide the greatest technical advantage through its ability to remember and recast the spell cast before. This causes the spell cast by rings to be actually faster than that cast by a wand. One merely has to wear enough rings with the spells already memorized in them to achieve the speed required in a duel or a battle.

''To cast a spell using a ring, a wizard may simply point the palm of his hand at the target and send a mental impulse into the finger with the specified ring. This allows ring spells to be cast at any angle and any position. Cast correctly, the target wouldn"t even know he is targeted. Best of all, ring allows multiple spells to be cast all at once."

''Then why do we use wands?" Neville interrupted again.

''We use wands because all witches and wizards can use them.'' Hermione continued. ''Strangely, no modern wizard has been able to master the art of ring magic. Now, the only conventional use of the ring is to use one as a talisman.

''Merlin was the last known wizard with the ability to fully master the art of ring magic. After his disappearance, no one confirmed his death, ring magic died out.

''Many theories exist on why wizards can no longer use rings. Jonathon Ferry, the late headmaster of Salem Magical Academy, formulated perhaps the most probable theory on why wizards can not use rings.

''He theorized that the mastery of ring magic requires certain genes. Elves and goblins created the first ring, and humans perhaps lost the primitive, most-likely-recessive genes in the process of evolution. He believes that certain genes cause one to be a wizard, a squib, or a muggle. How the genes determine this, he can not explain, because the genes have not been discovered even after the muggle's Human Genome Project. Furthermore, no one has been able to fully theorize how exactly the genes work. If the genes are recessive, since muggles can produce wizards, how can mating between a wizard and a muggle produce another wizard? If the genes are dominant, why isn't everyone wizards? If the genes worked together in a continuum, shouldn't there be a lot more squibs? If the genes worked like neural impulse with a threshold, why are there squibs? Many questions exist on the gene theory, and the wizarding community has been attempting to find an answer to this, especially the American government.

What has been proven is that the genes enabling one to use a ring are independent of the genes that determine if one is a wizard or not. Certain people throughout history have managed to cast a spell using the ring, but without control of what he or she may cast. Not all of these people were wizards; some who managed have been squibs, or even muggles.

''The last person reported to have cast a spell using the ring is..."

_The Dark Lord..._

''Albus Dumbledore,'' The professor interrupted, knowing what Hermione would say. ''You have been doing some research in the library haven't you, Ms. Granger? 20 points will be awarded to Gryffindor! Now, a picture of the ring can be found in..."

* * *

Present Day:  October 15th, 2005

''Man,'' Josh McFarley smiled in pleasure. ''That was one thrilling game.''

''Yeah,'' Jake smiled back. ''I thought Lidge was gonna get us killed for a moment there.''

They were referring to the Major League Baseball's National League Championship Series' Game 3 between the beloved Houston Astros and the St. Louis Cardinals.

But, Jake had another reason for being at Josh's house this night.

''Josh,'' Jake began, seriously. ''I don't think we should go to those parties anymore.''

Josh looked at Jake in bewilderment. Josh didn't really care about it, but Jake, of all people, saying so surprised him.

''Is it 'cause of that bust at the pub?'' Josh referred to the under-age drinking pub last week at the Baker"s Pub after a football game, in which Josh's school won, again, somehow."

''No,'' Jake smiled. ''I just don't think it's a good idea anymore. You know? You're going to homecoming with Katy; I'm going with Hermione. For their sake, we should lay down for a bit. I don't particularly want to ruin anything at the moment. I don't think you'd want to either."

_And I don_'_t want hear that voice again in my head. _

''Wow,'' Josh smiled sarcastically. ''Somebody's getting a conscience.''

''Shut up.'' Jake shoved Josh jokingly.

At that moment, Jake noticed a small glass case on Josh's desk. The case enclosed a platinum diamond ring. The ring looked old, but the diamonds were real and were cut to shape the Sun.

''Oh, yeah,'' Josh noticed the object of Jake's attention. ''I got that from my dad for my 17th birthday. My dad said that on the will of my biological father, he wished me to have this on my 17th birthday, in which he considered me to be of age.''

Draco Malfoy, Jake Alexander to Josh, looked strangely at Josh. Yes, Josh was adopted; Draco had forgotten about that. But that wasn't the strange part.

_Wizards become of age at 17 _

''I know,'' Josh smiled. ''You're supposed to turn 18.''

Draco looked intently at the ring.

_That looks like..._

Draco tried to remember the little he had learned in History of Magic.

''_A picture of the ring can be found..._''_ Professor Binns had said. This ring is an exact replica of the one I saw in the textbook; it must be a magical ring! That means that Josh came from a magical descent. I_'_ve got to find out more about Josh_'_s real parents! _

''So, Josh,'' Jake inquired. ''What do you exactly know about your parents anyway?''

''Well,'' Josh put his hand on his chin. ''I know my biological mother died at child birth. My father became schizophrenic right after my mom's death. He claimed that the CIA took away his memory and destroyed his life or something.''

''I see...'' Jake felt sorry for Josh. Though Draco didn't exactly have the perfect childhood he told people about, he realized that it must have been worse to know that you killed your mother and ruined the life of your father.

''Anyhow, the government took me away and I was adopted by my parents. My biological dad died in a mental institution months later.'' Josh continued. ''The government sent my dad a will my biological dad had written before he became schizophrenic. It's strange 'cause it seemed as if he knew exactly what was going to happen."

''So,'' Jake inquired deeper. ''Does this biological father have a name?''

''Yeah,'' Josh managed a smile. ''His name was Jonathon Ferry Jr.''

* * *

As Draco, Jake in public, walked out of Josh's house, he continued to think about the ring and Josh's biological father.

_"Jonathon Ferry, the late headmaster of Salem Magical Academy, formulated perhaps the most probable theory on why wizards can not use rings..." Hermione had said all those years ago. _

Draco froze.

_Josh is Jonathon Ferry's grandson! _

Draco was bewildered.

_How is that possible? If Josh was the grandson of a headmaster, how can he end up like this? He's not even a wizard, or I would be able to tell. Or he would have been notified by the magical community all those years ago! _

But as he cleared his head, Draco came to a cold conclusion.

_Josh is a squib, a squib who doesn't know._

_

* * *

_

The whole ring thing will be explained later, and I gotta get back to romance too, lol

Anyhow, review if you have time


	12. Fight Over a Ferry

New chapter. Thanks for all the reviews.

I wrote this pretty late at night and some say it's pretty rushed, so tell me if something's wrong

* * *

**Fight Over a Ferry: Homecoming Pt. 1**

"October 31, 1988: Jonathon Ferry Jr., a local journalist, dies at age 28 in a mental institution."

_That's the day of the Dark Lord's downfall_.

'Twas an October evening; the quite prioritized Hermione had completely forgotten about her homecoming date with Jake Alexander. She had a story, found after hours of digging inside protected government archives, keeping her attention. After hours of searching through government archives, CIA's restricted online database, all she found was a little article.

_This guy's got a terrible history. His wife died during giving birth to his child and his son was taken away from him because of his schizophrenia. _

Hermione had finally found the clue she needed. The Ferry family, part of the Slytherin Clan closest to the Dark Lord in blood, had left Britain for America. About a year before that, Voldemort was reported to be in America. Jonathon Ferry Sr., a famous school master and Tom Riddle's second uncle, went missing on New Years Day, the same day Jonathon Ferry Jr., the disowned son who had surprisingly moved back to Sugar Land, was beaten almost to death. Ferry Jr. had developed schizophrenia after that. Jonathon Ferry the Third, taken into an orphanage, seemed to have disappeared from history. He was about Hermione's age by now.

The question that bugged Hermione the most was why she had to do so much just to access a little basic information regarding the history of a family. Hermione Granger had to use a restricted computer in the Sugar Land City Hall, hacking into the CIA online data base that only gave her a short article regarding the Ferry family. The CIA was obviously trying to hide something.

_Ferry Jr. died screaming about his son, a horcrux, and a man named Tom. This had to be why. _

Hermione downloaded the short article from the computer onto her hand-held computer. As she did so, she noticed the date. It was marked October 22nd, the day of the Homecoming Dance.

_Oh, bugger. _

* * *

Hermione's Apartment

Draco Malfoy, Jake Alexander in public, was pissed. He had come to pick Hermione up at 7:00pm for dinner before the dance, but she wasn't home.

As he walked back to his car, he felt his cell phone ring. He had received a text message, from none other than Hermione Granger.

_Gee, she didn't even have the courage to call me. _

Draco read the text.

_"Sorry, I found an interesting reading. You know me. Meet you at the dance."_

_Yes, I DO know you. But how do YOU expect me to know you when you think I've only known you for 2 weeks?_

With a sigh, Draco opened the car door and got into his car. Jake Alexander would be eating alone tonight, facing the stares of people thinking he was stood up by his date.

Hermione got two extra hours to find some information on Jonathon III, unknown to her as Josh McFarley. But, she will not find anything new for the rest of the night.

* * *

One particular information she didn't find out turned into something particularly costly for Hermione.

CIA had tracked a hacker down in the historically notorious suburbia called Sugar Land, Texas.

Upon measuring her magical aura, a special tactics team had been sent to capture the labeled-dangerous witch, dead or alive.

* * *

8:30pm, Outside the City Hall

"We've secured the perimeter, over." Captain Robert Weaver, leader of the black op team, spoke through his radio transmitter.

"Good," the owner of the voice was none other than Agent Michaels. "Do not let her escape. She is dangerous, powerful witch. We have to find out exactly what she is doing here. We had a report of some brainwashed cops a week ago; she is a suspect. Take her down if you have to, over."

"Yes, sir, over."

Captain Weaver didn't know exactly how to respond to this particular situation he had signed up for. Part of the black ops, he had engaged himself in countless classified missions, but none of them seemed as strange as this one. The CIA had assigned his team to hunt down a witch. He wanted to know what the hell was going on, but the US military had taught him to ask no questions. He had to proceed with the mission.

CIA had provided them with the primary weapon tonight; it was a weapon no one in his team had ever used, or heard of. It had looked like a P90 submachine gun. He thought it an excellent choice for stealth combat. But taking a close look, he realized that it wasn't really a machine gun at all.

The weapon consisted of two components: a "magically enchanted" unloaded P90 and a sapphire ring with a "V" shape. According to the briefing, done by CIA Agent Johnson, the ring activates the enchanted P90. The rate of fire for the supposed "submachine" gun was only one shot per second. As a matter of fact, the gun didn't even shoot bullets. Half of the guns shot blue rays of lights that froze the target; the other half shot orange rays that tranquilized the target.

Upon positioning each of his team members at designated areas, Captain Weaver, carrying his "tranquilizer gun," proceeded down the hallway leading up to the witch's location, hoping they can surround and capture the woman without any harm.

* * *

BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP

Hermione's sneakscope interrupted her frustration over her inability to find anything on Ferry III.

_Someone's coming!_

Hermione shot up from her seat and tried to disapparate. It didn't work anymore.

_Damn, they've enchanted the place._

Wand in her hand, hood over her head, Hermione simply stood.

Hours of silence seemed to pass by.

* * *

A stun grenade was thrown inside the room. It burst in front of the witch's face as she only had enough time to put up a defense, saving her from paralysis. Immediately, the black ops burst threw the doors and surrounded her.

"PUT YOUR WEAPON DOWN AND KEEP YOUR HANDS WHERE WE CAN SEE THEM!" One of the black ops shouted.

The witch stared at him, full of contempt. She waved her wand around and a glowing aura formed around her body. It seemed that she had created a physical shield.

The black op fired the first shot.

Hermione had every confidence that she would be able to escape. She was a witch after all, and the black ops were mere muggles. Putting on the strongest physical shield, she readied for a quick, one-way fight.

The black op fired at her.

She stared at the shot for a moment. Something wasn't right. The bullet was huge. The bullet was orange.

Two feet on the ground, Hermione threw her body backward, full speed.

The orange ray of light easily penetrated Hermione's shield. Hermione was not quick enough; the ray scratched past her chest, causing her to yelp in pain.

Keeping her balance, Hermione performed a back flip and shot a curse at the magical gunman. He rolled to the left and barely dodged the curse. Upon that, all the other black ops began firing their own set of magical rays at her.

_They're shooting curses at me with their guns! What's going on?_

Hermione acrobatically dodged most of the blue and orange curses, deflecting the rest with her shielding charm back at the shooters.

* * *

Ten Minutes Later...

Hermione couldn't dodge the black ops' curses forever. They had outnumbered her 10 to 1. Although she was taking them down one at a time with her speed and evasiveness, it was a matter of time before one of the curses hit her again. The effect of the red curse, though it was only a scratch, had begun to take its toll. Hermione began feeling dull as she tried her best dodging and deflecting curses shot at her.

_How did they know I was a witch? Why are they doing all this just to catch me? _

Hermione shot a disarming spell to her right, at the black op that originally shot at her. He barely dodged the spell, but the intensity of Hermione's spell swept his gun out of his strong grip toward the wall. The gun smashed into pieces. The black op performed a roll to the left and immediately drew his Smith & Wesson 59, blasting an entire magazine at Hermione. Her physical shield was still up; she pointed her wand toward him in retaliation.

She was interrupted by another op shooting a blue freezing curse at her from her right. She deflected it right back at him, freezing the gun he used to block the deflected curse. She shot another spell that blasted through the frozen gun, temporarily knocking out the op. By this time, the other black op had disappeared into hiding. Realizing that, she proceeded to fighting the rest of the ops.

_Six down, one ran, and three left to go. __

* * *

_

While the witch was having a stealth shootout with the other three black ops, Captain Weaver hid behind one of the desks in the corner, watching every one of Hermione's moves, trying to figure out how to take her down.

_Damn, she's too good. I can't find one weakness in her. Our tactic was to surround and overwhelm her. She's overwhelming us! These guns may shoot light bolts that go through her shield, but they're too slow compared to what she shoots at us. _

With that thought, the crouched captain slowly edged toward the acrobatic witch's position, trying to sneak behind her.

There were only two ops left now. The witch had jumped right on Lieutenant Jackson's face, breaking his nose and knocking him down stone cold.

Captain Weaver sneaked closer to her. Only one desk stood between the two soldiers. As she backed toward the door next to the desk, he thought he'd take his chance and sneak behind her.

But right then, Hermione turned right, throwing her arms toward his direction. He immediately spun back behind the desk out of impulse. But she had not seen him. She had taken down another black op.

She turned around and faced the door. If she passes the desk to her left, she'd be walk right past him, crouched down and vulnerable. He doubted that she'd not notice him.

A row of desks extended toward Captain Weaver's left side. Hermione would see him if he ran toward his right. The witch would discover him no matter what.

He got lucky. As he looked toward his right, he made eye contact with Lieutenant Myers, hiding behind a desk on the other side of the room. They understood each other immediately. Myers could not possibly hit her with his gun, being too far away; the witch would immediately notice and deflect the blast. But if he did...

Lieutenant Myers stood up and shot at the witch. Hermione faced right, turning her back on Captain Weaver.

Just as Lieutenant Myers fell to the ground, Captain Weaver jumped her from behind. They hit the ground and rolled around as the witch struggled to get away.

Captain Weaver wrapped his legs around Hermione's, preventing her from kicking around. But just as he tried to disarm her by locking her arms, she began elbowing him continuously. She must have been doing it hard too, for he felt pain through his thick body armor. He could have disarmed and immobilized her with time, but that was not a risk he was willing to take. He did know what the witch was capable of, with or without a wand.

"Jackson!" he noticed that Lieutenant Jackson was conscious again. "Get over here and tranquilize her!"

Jackson disorientedly lurched over to where they were. Slowly gaining back his senses, he lifted his gun. He seemed pleased to shoot the girl who broke his nose.

* * *

Hermione knew she had gotten herself into a mess. She couldn't get away. She managed to hold onto her wand, but the black ops grip prevented her from aiming at anything. She was about to die.

But moments before she was about to be shot, as the other black op tried to gain back his senses, she remembered something important. She could cast spells that required no aiming.

_Accio time turner!_

The silent spell pulled the time turner into her grip.

With her thumb and index finger, she twisted the turner as far as she could, jumping 40 minutes into the past.

* * *

The witch disappeared right when the red bolt of light fired out of Lieutenant Jackson's gun, directly hitting Captain Weaver's chest and tranquilizing him.

Lieutenant Jackson was the only black op to walk out of the building conscious that night.

* * *

Hermione was glad she had chosen to keep everything in her pockets tonight. The black ops would not find a thing on her. She had apparated in and used gloves on everything she touched.

Appearing 40 minutes ago in the past, Hermione immediately disapparated back into her car, before the past Hermione would notice, before the black ops would jam the apparition signal.

Hermione drove out of the parking lot, a minute before the black ops would arrive.

But her night would not end there. She still had to go to the homecoming dance, pretending that nothing had happened in the City Hall. She also had to find a potion that would take away the minor effects of the curse that had hit her. She drove home, drowsily.

She was too drowsy to be driving. Passing an intersection, she failed to notice a speeding car running a red light. It crashed right into her, from her right, again.

She wasn't quick enough to turn around this time.

* * *

9:00pm, Outside the School

Draco Malfoy, as Jake Alexander, waited for his date Hermione Granger, greeting everyone going into the dance.

_She's always on time... where is she?_

_

* * *

_

Review if you have time

I think this chapter could use some revision... actually all of my chapters could. So tell me if there's any grammatical problems or any part that could use more lenghthening up / descriptions

Also, I doubt there's any cuz i barely use any, but is there anything contradicting with the actual Harry Potter book info?


	13. Fashionable Tardiness

Alright. My longest and the most chick flicky chapter is done.

please read and review. I put up a lot of effort to this.

emeraldwolfqueen: THANK YOU SOOOO MUCH. Wow, I let 3 people read this before I posted it and you were the only one to point out my naming errors. I should really blame myself for naming the two main guy characters with names that start with "J"...

**Draco is still Jake**

**

* * *

**

**Fashionable Tardiness: Homecoming, the Dance**

_Hey, please slow down. You were always walking too fast for your own damned good. Slow down, I just wanna get to know you. Slow down, please. I can't keep up. I know you hate being held back by my grip, but I don't want you walking away from me anymore. I'm getting tired of seeing your back. _

* * *

"Hey, Jake," the disk jockey, named Mike, tapped Jake Alexander, the dance's sponsor, on the shoulder. "That song you wanted's ready. You wanna play it now?" 

The Homecoming dance had begun. Guys in suits and girls in various assortments of dresses arrived at the school entrance, presenting their tickets. Few were arguing over lost tickets. Some were trying to sneak in; Draco let them, it was a night for everyone to enjoy themselves.

Many couples were taking Homecoming pictures. Their bright, happy smiles brought an enormous weight upon Draco Malfoy's heart.

_Hermione and I would have looked better than any of them combined..._

Draco, no matter how hard he tried not to, had inherited the hubris passed through the generations of Malfoys. Others' happiness caused resentment, even though he was providing it. He had paid most of the expenses for this year's dance after all, making it the biggest dance in the school's history.

Serving was never on Draco's priority list. Bringing others happiness had never quite satisfied him the way his own happiness did. He had not felt satisfaction in quite a while now; he wondered if he ever had. He wanted happiness. He wanted Hermione. But neither of them was at the dance tonight, at that moment.

He was stuck there, waiting, hoping Hermione was "just" late.

"Nah," Jake replied to the DJ. "I'll signal you when I think it's time."

"Alright," Mike agreed and went back to his work.

"Let's get retarded," a high pitched female voice was heard through the speakers all over the gigantic dance floor. "In heeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeerrrrrrre."

"Now everybody get on the dance floor and sing!" Mike blared over the speakers as people gathered around on the dance floor, banging their heads to the tune.

And the base kept running like the good song said and the biggest dance in the history of Sugar Land kicked off fittingly with the Black Eyed Peas. Formation of a thousand students and alumni began the hump and grind game generally characterized by high school dances.

_I know Hermione would never approve of THAT. _

Draco sighed and sat next to one of the tables, coincidentally occupied by Josh McFarley, his best friend, and Katy O'Toole, his ex and Josh's Homecoming date.

* * *

"Hello there," Jake curiously eyed the two who came to Homecoming Dance together as friends. "I expected yal to be on the dance floor." 

"Are you kidding me?" Katy answered with a slight annoyance, eyeing the grinders on the dance floor; Josh only shrugged. "There's no way I'm gonna dance like that."

Josh only shrugged; Katy seemed to have psychologically worn the pants in this date.

"Well," Jake chuckled. "For a dancer, aren't you just picky with your dances?"

"Yes I am." The "man" of the relationship answered...

_Damn it Josh! Say something to get her attention. I'm getting all her attention without doing anything here. _

Josh only sighed quietly.

"I'm bored." Katy declared.

Josh was still quiet.

"Well, dance is the main form of entertainment for this sort of things," Jake covered for Josh. "Why don't you just dance with Josh?"

Katy ignored that question as a new song popped up. It was a slow song this time.

"Come on Jake," Katy got up and grabbed Jake's hand. "We're gonna go dance."

"Fine," Jake forced himself to be polite to his invitee.

_Damn it Katy, why can't you just get a clue on who likes you and who doesn't. _

"So now do you see?" Katy began as they got on to the dance floor.

"See what?" Jake asked; one hand was on Katy's waist, the other holding Katy's hand as Jake square-danced with Katy.

"You should have been my date for this," Katy answered with a sly smile. "I'm the only one you'll be dancing with tonight."

"Oh, you'll never know." Jake tonelessly answered as he looked around the dance floor, still no sign of Hermione.

"Hey," Katy's hand adjusted Jake's face back toward facing Katy. "I'm your dance partner, not those people."

"Aren't you just the control freak," Jake was annoyed. "Shouldn't you be dancing with Josh? He spent quite a deal of time, effort, and money for this, you know."

"He can dance with whom ever he wants." Katy sighed. It hit her nerve; she hated being told what to do. She took a step forward, trying to control their dance. "He only came with me 'cause he felt sorry for me. You did dump me at the worst time for a girl you barely even know, you know?"

_You know nothing._

"That's not the point." Jake argued as he took one graceful step toward Katy, regaining control. "Here's you girls' problem. You spend all the money and time of your day preparing for these things. You force us guys who actually care about yal to work our asses off trying to please yal. And what happens? You come here and say that you're bored when you're the ones making it boring. You leave your dates standing around not knowing what's going on. And worst of all, you start dancing with other guys, pissing the crap out of your dates. You know when girls say guys don't spend enough quality time with them? That's complete bull shit. 'Cause we try so hard for yal, and all you do is ignore it and do everything your own way."

"You hypocrite," Katy counter-argued as Jake finished masterfully spinning her around. "You're the one square-dancing with me, showing us off. Can't you see that we're the best looking ones out here? We're the only ones really dancing. It's making Josh jealous. You've always made Josh jealous from the day he met you; but, somehow using that stupid little pain in the ass charm of yours, you turned him into your posse, your sidekick, your supposed best friend. If you care so much about your best friend, why did you ask me out in the first place? Why did you say all the right things? Why did you purposely send me mixed signals just to keep me on my toes? You're calling me the control freak. You're the biggest control freak around, you stupid ass-hole."

"You know nothing of me!" Jake began yelling. He was toe-to-toe with Katy now; he was surprised he hadn't stepped on her feet yet. They glided around the dance floor. "You have no idea who I am. I warned you when we were first together. I warned you that you were going to open the Pandora's Box by being with me for more than a night. You were the one who chose to continue seeing me. You were the one who smoked me like pot without knowing the consequences. All you see is the light side I chose to show you. You don't want to know me. You don't want to be with me. You Can't Handle the Truth!"

They stopped dancing. Katy released herself from Jake's hold and simply stared back in contempt. They didn't notice that everyone else was staring at them.

"And Hermione Can?" Katy exploded. "You've known her for less than three weeks! I dated you from the time you got to this damned place! Did I ever drag you down and force you to be with me? NO! I knew you had a preference for a shit load of girls and I accepted that. I let you sleep around and party. I let you try and stop smoking pot for your own sake, not mine. I let you see other people. But you always came back to me like you put me on the top of your list. I listened to you. I knew you the best. And you loved the fact that I knew exactly what you wanted: not sex, not pleasure, just someone to listen to you. Heck, I even listen to you cry and bitch about how terrible of a person you were for getting high with your friends and forgetting our date. You tell me that you're not in love with me. Try and deny that I've fallen for you!"

"I Don't Love You Katy!" Jake only yelled harder. "And you don't love me. You love Josh. The only reason you want to be with me is because I made Josh jealous. I forced him to make some kind of move on you. I may have been an insensitive bastard to him, but that doesn't mean I don't care about him at all. I see the way he looks at you. I see the way you look at him. Why can't you just admit you're in love with him and that you loved him all along? Are you just that bad with your words?"

"Stop trying to tell me what to do!" Tears were about to roll down Katy's eyes.

"Then stop being controlled by your own pessimism about Josh." She was only countered by Jake's stone serious command.

There was a long period of silence. The song they were dancing to stopped and another slow song began.

"You know," Katy broke the silence with a little smile. "The first date we went on, you signed us up for a dance class, saying you needed a dance partner to learn how to dance. When I got there, I realized you lied, 'cause you were the best dancer I had ever met. This was the first song we danced to. You swept me off my feet by giving me the most amazing kiss at the end of the song. Did that mean anything to you at all?"

"Some dances don't mean a thing, Katy." Jake forced himself to be cruelly indifferent. It was the only way.

Jake looked down upon Katy, who was simply frozen there. Her face stared at the floor; she couldn't bear catching his eye. A drop of tear rolled down her cheek.

"I see." Katy sobbed.

Again, silence filled the dance floor. It wasn't real silence. The music was going; people who didn't notice them from faraway were still dancing. Only people surrounding them stared. But to the former couple, the world was silent for what seemed to be a millennium.

"You know," Katy broke the silence again. "You were wrong about why I wanted to be with you. I just thought that..." Katy sobbed. "I just thought that if I was with you, I wouldn't have to worry about any heart breaking."

Katy, eyes on the ground, ran out of the dance floor, leaving a trail of tears.

_A liter of tears rolling down her eyes, Katy O'Toole leaves my life. What did she mean by not worrying about heart breaking? She knew I was the biggest heart breaker around... But I can'__t worry about that for now. I hope Josh will do the right thing. _

* * *

Josh couldn't do anything; he was only Katy's friend. Watching the two dancing, Josh was full of resentment and jealousy toward Jake for always getting everything Josh had ever wanted. But that mattered not. Josh and Katy may have shared a few romantic moments in the past; but, those seemed to mean nothing now with Katy recklessly pursuing Jake Alexander. If Josh ever had a chance, it was too late. He had blown enough chances; he had struck out without a swing. He just sat there and watched. 

They were the most graceful couple on the dance floor. They sailed around the dance floor, performing moves unimaginable in a poppy, high school dance. They each took steps toward the other, trying to force the other to back down. Jake eventually took control, getting the upper hand from the best dancer Josh knew, the dancer he could never get control over. As Jake finished spinning Katy around, what used to be an overly complicated square dance turned into a tango. Jake was toe-to toe with Katy, chest to chest, and lips almost to lips. They were meant to be together, it seemed to Josh. Jake had stolen Katy from him after all Jake had said.

But suddenly, he began seeing Jake yelling at Katy. He couldn't hear what was going on; he hated not knowing what's going on. He wanted to walk over there and stop the confrontation, but he couldn't seem to break the force of gravity that bound him to his chair on the side of the dance floor. He just sat there and stared at the only people he could see: Jake and Katy. Katy seemed flabbergasted by Jake's sudden outburst. For a moment, she just stood there, frozen. But then, as if she found her voice, she began yelling back at Jake. She went on and on, her eyes full of rage. Jake grinded his teeth as he waited Katy to finish. He was polite enough to listen to what Katy was saying, as if he wanted to listen to her yell. But as if he couldn't take it anymore, he screamed back one more time, waving his arms around.

Josh could see tears from Katy's eyes.

Josh defied the law of gravity.

* * *

Katy ran out of the dance floor as fast as she could manage on her heels. It wasn't very fast; Jake could have easily run after her, but he only stood there, showing nothing but an expression of cold sympathy. He looked like a stone statue carved by the artist to look sympathetic but couldn't actually be so. He couldn't feel sorry for Katy, she had brought upon her own troubles. She had all she ever wanted, all she ever needed, right in front of her face; yet, like a curious cat, she opened the Pandora's Box that was Draco Jake. He had attempted to escape her mind, attempted to save her, but she was a failed product. He couldn't do anything for her now. Only Josh... 

_Now, it's time to deal with Josh._

Jake turned his face toward the table he formerly sat next to; Josh should have been within its proximity. Josh wasn't there. But before Draco could wonder where Josh had gone to, something hard crashed squarely onto his cheek. He felt a loose tooth.

Jake, thrown off guard, fell to the ground. Used to pain, he rolled right back up, staring at his surprise assailant. It was none other than Josh McFarley. Jake could see the vein on his face. His fist was clasped tight. His eyes, that deep blueness Katy had fallen in love with all those years ago, now seemed red, burning in pure fury. His hair seemed to be floating, as if the aura of his anger was counteracting the gravitational pull of the Earth. But Draco knew that it was muscular tension on his skull. Only enough excitement, enough rage would cause such force. Josh began walking robotically toward Jake, too tense for elegance. Before Jake could react, Josh seized Jake's collars with his vein-bulged hands and shoved him on the wall closest to them.

"What the hell did you do to Katy?" Jake thought he was being burned alive.

Jake sighed. He didn't even flinch when Josh threw a glass bottle at his face; he wasn't about to now. He remembered when he was a coward; fearing threat against his comfort, fearing death. He had cried every time his father beat him. But upon witnessing his father's death, he had become indifferent to fear. Watching the killer had given him the realization that he had to face his fears and let it pass through him. Without doing so, only he would feel death. With doing so, only he would remain.

"What the hell are YOU doing here?" Jake's stone grey vision shot right into Josh's eyes, penetrating his body, his brain, his heart. "I just gave you the chance to do something you were too much of a coward to do. You can't do that here."

All the anger was washed out of Josh's body as the flood of Jake's purifying words flowed into him. All he had left was a blank consciousness. He didn't know what to do.

"Go after Katy you idiot" Jake showed a warm smile that took Josh out of his trance.

Josh released his hold on Jake and backed away.

* * *

Josh ran after Katy, following her out to the parking lot. 

She was just standing there in the cold night, alone, dejected.

"You've had her heart from the start," someone within him said." Just give her the reassurance that she has yours."

_It'__s my last and only chance. _

"Hey." Katy was startled by the voice of her old friend.

"Hi," she looked back at him, and quickly turned back, embarrassed to show her ruined countenance. Her make-up was drenched in her tears now, but she was the only one who cared about that. Josh barely noticed, not because he was unperceptive; it was hard to see the imperfection in what one knew to be perfect for so long. After a brief silence, she began again. "You didn't have to come, you know. You were my date. After what happened in there, you are the last person I expect any sympathy from."

"Well," Josh nervously replied, his inner voice screamed at him to rid the awkwardness. "You're right."

_Damn it, Josh! Say something clever! Something funny! Something that'll make her fall in love with you!_

"Then why are you here?" Katy coldly asked, her back facing him.

_Say Anything!_

"I'm here," Josh answered. "I'm here because I'm in love with you."

"What?" Katy turned around, surprised.

_No you don't... you can't_

"Katy, we've been friends for eight years. There's got to be something more than just friendship between us. I know I'm being selfish, but I want more from you. I want more from us."

Katy just stared at him, jaw open in surprise.

"Remember the first time we met?" Josh sighed and continued. "The time I first moved into our neighborhood; I was walking around and you rode your bike up to me and asked me for my name. I thought you were the most beautiful being I had ever seen, and I still do. I've been in love with ever since."

Katy was again silent. It seemed to be a losing battle for Josh now, but he couldn't stop. It was too late for him to stop now.

"Come on Katy," Josh pleaded. "You can't tell me that you've never had any feelings for me. After all the random phone calls just to say hi, after all the walking around the neighborhood together, after all the time you came to my soccer games, after all the time you laughed at my dumb jokes, you can't just say that you felt nothing about me. After all the time I hung around you and your stupid friends for no reason, after all the unneeded favors I did for you, after all the arguments I let you win, you can't just say you didn't know I had feelings for you. Please say something."

Again, silence crushed him. He was digging a hole for himself. He was now under rock-bottom.

"Damn it, Katy!" Josh begged. "'blab about this the whole night with your bitchy dance friends. I'm offering everything I've got here. Please open up a little. You've got nothing to lose from this; I have everything to lose."

Katy couldn't move a muscle. She was simply overwhelmed and paralyzed by the shock from Josh's confession. It was too much information for her to take in.

"You know what?" Josh gave up. "Forget it."

Josh walked away into the darkness toward where he parked his car.

* * *

Katy finally got some of her senses back. She felt her hands twitch a little as her superego, her conscience, began talking to her. 

_Just let him go Katy, it's the best way..._

She just watched him walk away. He had quite a distance to go; he had parked the car pretty far away.

_Why am I not allowed to be selfish? I do love him. I wanna be with him, at least for this night, this month._

Katy fought with her inner-self.

_But can't you see that will only make things worse for him? You don't deserve him Katy! You're only going to hurt him and drag him down by being with him._

"I can't love him." Katy mouthed silently.

_But I do want him. He deserves something. I deserve something. I just wanna be loved like any other girl would._

Katy's legs were freed from paralysis caused by her conscience as her girlish urges took over. Josh was quite far away now. She ran after him.

* * *

Katy couldn't run in her high heels. She wanted to yell out his name, but her voice was still disabled. She couldn't think straight. In her head, there was only one way to stop him from leaving her for good. 

Katy threw one of her high heels at Josh, hoping it'll hit him and he'd notice her.

She missed the mark terribly. She tried throwing the shoe with all her might that she ended up throwing the shoe onto the ground, barely 20feet away from her.

Ok... aim a little higher this time.

* * *

Josh was pissed. He had confessed his love for Katy and got nothing in return. The lack of response was worse than rejection. 

If it was rejection, at least I'd know and not have to second guess.

It felt quite easy for him to second guess that it was over though.

Something hit the back of his head, causing him tremendous amount of pain.

"WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT f..." Katy was now barefoot and thought she should have just taken her heels off. She finally caught up to Josh and interrupted him from finishing his exclamation by immobilizing his lips.

Katy had jumped right onto Josh and kissed him. Her arms wrapped tightly around his neck in an effort to stay up. His arms wrapped around the back of her thighs to keep her in air. Neither of them was sure if they were the ones spinning, or if the world around them was.

Katy's lips released their hold on Josh's lips. The world stopped spinning. The world became normal again. Everything was now the way it was meant to be.

"What took you so long?" Josh looked into Katy's eyes.

"I should ask you," Katy only smiled. "You were eight years late."

With that, they drowned in each other's smile.

* * *

Later That Night

Jake Alexander, trying to enjoy the Hermione-less night as much as possible, spent most of his time dancing and grinding with a large quantity of girls and women, leaving the females' dates to watch resentfully and helplessly.

_Yes, how hypocritical of me... after all I said to Katy_

That didn't work. Dancing with large doses of kinky women was similar to drinking alcohol. It only provided temporary relief; while, in the long run, it only made him feel worse.

The night rolled on until it was finally the time to play the last song.

"Hey, Jake," Mike came to see Jake again in middle of a song. "I've been waiting for a sign from you all night man. Am I ever gonna play that song"

"Ooh," Jasmine, one of the women he was dancing with eyed Jake seductively. "Did you want to play a love song for me?"

"No, that'll be your boyfriend," the unaffected Jake pointed at his temporary dance partner's date, who looked quite angry.

"Anyhow," he turned toward Mike and sighed. "No, I don't think will need it tonight. Sorry, I should have told you earlier."

"Alright" Mike eyed Jake strangely. "You ok man?"

"Thanks for asking M. J., I'm fine." Jake smiled and told a white lie. "Play a nice slow song for all the lovers out there will ya? Let them enjoy a nice slow song."

With that, the DJ returned to his turn table to select the next song. Jake got rid of Jasmine and leaned against a column, forcing himself to watch the last few minutes of the dance he sponsored.

"This is for all of you lovers out there," the DJ spoke through the microphone. "It's called Making Memories of Us. Enjoy"

The torture show began for Draco Malfoy.

He hated watching others enjoy themselves while he didn't. That happened through out his years at Hogwarts and he hated it. Hermione was always with Harry and Ron, celebrating their newest accomplishment. All he had was his meager attempts to foil their happiness, not because he hated them, but because he hated them to be the ones making Hermione happy. He carried that impossible wish that he would one day be Hermione's provider for joy. He had his wand in his jacket. He wanted to shoot everyone on the dance floor. He probably could have in his old death-eater days. Those days were long over now.

* * *

Josh and Katy were among the couples who danced gracefully and romantically. They were the minority who actually knew how to dance; Josh masterfully performed a few dance moves with Katy, few spins here, few steps there. He looked almost as good as Jake, as Katy gave Josh full control over her body for the first time in their life. 

_That's for being a close friend to a dancer for all these years I suppose._ Draco watched. _Not saying that I can't dance._

"You don't have to love me back; I can wait." Josh whispered into Katy's ear. "But I'm gonna be here for you baby. I'll be a man of my word."

Katy answered by laying her head on Josh's chest.

"I wanna sleep with you forever, and I wanna die in your arms."

"Keep singing." Katy felt like she was dreaming.

Draco could barely watch, but he forced himself to. It was the product of his effort; he had to stand by it until the end. And he had to look strong in front of others; he wasn't supposed to have any weaknesses.

"I wanna honor your mother, I wanna learn from your pa" Josh exhaled deeply upon Katy's neck and Katy smiled with a shiver. "But most of all, I wanna steal your attention like a bad outlaw."

Josh's lips slowly touched Katy's skin and moved up toward her lips at snail's pace. His lips backed off when it was inches away from its final destination. They could feel each other's breaths; they were breathing nervously, hard. The war of the breaths lasted for what seemed to be hours as Josh stroked Katy's nose with his own nose.

"I'm gonna love you like nobody loves you," Josh exhaled into Katy's mouth. She could smell his breath. It was a nice smell, the scent of her favorite mint gum; he had remembered her favorite gum.

"And I'll win your trust making memories of us." Josh finally kissed Katy at the song's conclusion. She forgot all about Jake's old kiss. But her worry lingered in her heart. She hoped enough memories would be made at the conclusion of their love story.

Draco sighed as the torture show called Homecoming finally came to an end. The clock struck midnight.

* * *

Midnight, Memorial Hospital Sugar Land Branch

Hermione jumped straight up from her bed as the effect of the tranquilizer curse finally wore off.

_Where am I?_

The room was familiar. She had been here before at another time. She remembered just as another familiar figure walked into the room.

"So I see you've woken up." It was Dr. McFarley.

"How did I get here?" Hermione inquired.

"Cuttin' to the chase aren't ya?" The doctor smiled. "You got into a car accident. You got hit by a drunk driver. You don't have to worry about any medical fees or insurance because it was the other driver's fault. You should be a little more careful next time, though. All the tests came out negative so you're fine, but we thought you were seriously hurt."

"Why?" Hermione looked at her body; she didn't have a scratch on her.

"Well, you were knocked out stone cold." Josh"s father answered. "We thought you were tranquilized or something, but there was nothing in your system. Your brain activity was fine too so you didn't have a coma either. You were simply... sleeping."

_The effect of the curse..._

"I see." Hermione looked at the clock. It was past midnight.

_Shit! The dance is over!_

"Sir," Hermione looked at Dr. McFarley. "Can I be discharged?"

"Huh," the doctor was surprised. "It's pretty late. Don't you want to just stay the night?"

"I have some business to take care of."

_I need to disapparate to the school, transfigure myself to look pretty and dressed, and time-turn myself to the beginning of the dance so that Jake wouldn't get mad at me. _

"I suppose you could." Dr. McFarley sighed. "I could force you to stay here, but I suppose if you really want to. You're clothes are right on the chair right there."

"Thank you"

"Oh, and that tree branch you had in your pocket, do you want us to throw that away?"

"NO!" Hermione exclaimed as the doctor stared her in surprise.

"I mean, no" Hermione blushed. "It's a branch from a rare tree. I'm using it for a biology project."

Knowing that Hermione was one of the brightest students in the school, the doctor fell for the white lie.

"Alright," he smiled. "It's a good thing I didn't throw it away then. I'll let you change back to your regular clothes. You can leave your hospital gown on the bed."

He walked out and Hermione changed back to her regular clothes.

After changing, she walked out of the room and signed all the discharge papers. Upon thanking the doctors and nurses, Hermione rushed out of the area before Dr. McFarley could ask "How are you gonna leave without your car?"

Hermione rushed into an empty lady's room and disapparated. It was 1:00 am.

* * *

That Time, at School

Draco Malfoy sat on the stage alone, watching what was left of the Homecoming dance. Everyone had left, the clean up was over, but Draco couldn't seem to leave. Something kept him here; he supposed that it was the sense of loneliness that the empty dance floor evoked. He could relate to that feeling; he was destined to be alone too.

But, he couldn't sit there forever. He had move on and leave.

Jake Alexander stood up and walked away from the dance floor.

Hermione Granger apparated right in front of him as he approached the doors.

They stared into each other's eyes in complete surprise.

"What the hell are you doing here now?" They exclaimed simultaneously.

* * *

**REVIEW, and tell me especially if there's any mistakes**

Sorry, I left this with a cliff hanger and a lot of issues unexplained.

Furthermore, I'll step out from the Katy/Josh stuff to focus more on Jake/Hermione, Horcrux, and the whole ring issue.

Oh, and i'll be spending this Spring Break, or try to at least, to edit and lengthen up my old chapters in order to make it better. You won't miss out on the plot if you don't re-read, but it'll have more detail, stream of consciousness, talking, some fighting, etc etc.


	14. Termination and Restoration

Wow, stupid SAT and APs... i finally finished this chapter

I wrote most of this past midnight on many procrastination filled nights and put it on here as soon as I could, so sry if i have mistakes. Tell me if there's any

And this chapter is inspired by the song "Slow Down" from Bobby Valentino

Also, I'm giving yal some psychology lessons on this chapter P I recommend yal to take the class, it's quite interesting i think.

read and review

and **Draco is Jake**

* * *

**Termination and Restoration: Homecoming, the Conclusion**

Few Months before Hermione's First Year at Hogwarts

Hermione was the most excited girl in the world, dancing around like a golden butterfly, when she read her acceptance letter to Hogwarts, a magical school for the most magically gifted children around Europe. She was happy not because she had found out that she was gifted; she had always known that she was smarter than others her age. She screamed in joy because Fate had given her a chance to make friends, friends much like her.

Hermione Granger had always been different. Her parents said different was good; it made her an individual, standing out from the crowd. But Hermione hated it. She was simply too smart, too gifted, for others. Other children had no interest in Hermione's interests. They were too busy playing house while Hermione busily read about the cultures around the world.

She had no friends, no friends living close to her at least. One friend she had lived far away. He was her pen pal; his was named Jacob Welsh. Hermione had met him through an international pen pal program. Their friendship had been built slowly. They had little in common, being brought up in different societies. But he was really good to her, and eventuallygained her fragile trust. She told him everything as he told her everything. She couldn't wait to tell him her good news.

But...

"Um, Honey?" her mother nervously approached her. "There's another letter for you to read from Mr. Dumbledore."

"Ohh!" ecstatic Hermione grabbed the letter. "More letters from Hogwarts to read. How exciting!"

_Dear Ms. Granger_

_I regretfully inform you that by attending Hogwarts, you must terminate all close personal relationships with everyone outside of your family. This is for your own protection. I hope you would understand. _

_Sincerely, _

_Albus Dumbledore_

Upon reading, Hermione dropped to her knees and cried. 

"I'm so sorry Jake! I have to do this. Please forgive me. . ."

_

* * *

Dearest Jacob, _

_I wish I could write to you under better circumstances. I have terrible news. I can write to you no longer. I_'_m truly sorry. _

_I have been accepted into an elite boarding school for especially talented children. It seems that God has given me another chance to make friends after all. By attending the school, I hope I will be able to meet others just like me and achieve something I_'_ve never been able to do: to make many friends. The school, for a reason I can not disclose with you, has required me to terminate my relationship with my only friend, you. I really wish I could tell you this news to celebrate.Itwould simply be too selfish of me to ask you to be happy for me, but I beg of you to at least understand. Though we've been pen pals for a long time, there's little chance that we'll ever meet due to our present condition. I feel guilty longing for a friend I could see and touch when you've been the care and support I could ever ask for. _

_We live in a different world, Jake, literally and emotionally. We've never had too much in common except for our desire to learn about other, but you've always been so generous to me toward my weirdness, my excessive bookishness, and my lack of social skills. I feel terrible about repaying you with such cruelty. You don't deserve it. But our differences will only grow as we age. My life has changed so much over the past few days that I can not even discuss it with you; I'm not allowed to discuss it with you. My path seems to have turned completely. I wish I could take you with me, I really do. But that's simply unfair for you, for I will only leave you behind. My life is changing so fast. I'm already behind in pursuing my new dream and I'm running to keep up. I can't ask you to keep up with me. It may be impossible for you to keep up with me. _

_You have a great life ahead of you. You will easily get to where you want to be. But you just can't be with me. _

_On your last letter, you confessed to me that you may have fallen in love with me. Jacob Welsh, I have fallen in love with you, too. But I can't love you. We're simply too young and I will only leave you behind. I'm sorry. _

_I hope our paths will cross again in the distant future. You may treat me in any way that you'd like. I'd probably deserve it. _

_I'm sorry, _

_To my first love, _

_Hermione Granger_

* * *

Upon reading the tear-drenched letter, Draco Malfoy, under alias of Jacob Welsh from Beverly Hills, California, cried. He hated and loved Hermione at the same time. He tried to hate the muggle race, calling them "mudbloods"; but, he couldn't truly hate them. 

He later found out that Hermione Granger attended Hogwarts along with him. But, he never revealed to her his alias.

His childhood feelings for her remained for the rest of his life.

_I will only leave you behind. My life is changing so fast. . . I can't ask you to keep up with me._

* * *

Present, 1:05a.m., October 23rd, 2005 

"So, Hermione, I guess you're a witch?" Jacob M. Alexander assumed as if he didn't already know.

Jake and Hermione were now sitting in the courtyard, on a warm Southern night. After a brief period of confusion and silence from their surprise encounter, Jake had invited Hermione out on a walk where they ended up sitting on a bench instead. It was surprisingly clean for once, the courtyard; it was usually dirty, full of litter that created a repulsive field around the once beautiful garden in the middle. Jake, being in charge of the dance, had personally made sure that the courtyard would be an attractive place to be, at least for Homecoming. The brick walls were watered and windows wiped. Plants were trimmed and weeds pulled. He had even made sure that each one of the tables were clothed and magically removed all the gums stuck under it while no one was looking. Jake had made sure that the night was perfect. The garden looked amazing as if it was an untouched forest. Now that Hermione was here, Jake felt he could finally enjoy his accomplishment.

"Yes," Hermione answered while Jake admired his own work.

"So why is a witch like you attending a school for "normal" kids?" Jake inquired for something he thought he already knew.

"Because I can," Hermione simply shot him down.

_Smartass_

"So," Draco decided to test how nice Hermione would act toward Jake, who found out her darkest secret. "I suppose all wizards are born with their magical powers and go to regular schools just for the heck of it?"

"No," Hermione replied with a cold British accent.

_Is she trying to be hard-to-get or is she just being mean? _

"So are you going to tell me anything?" Jake finally turned his face toward Hermione, at his left.

"No," Jake could see the seriousness in her eyes. She meant business. He felt a small perspiration itching on his back. His right hand slid there to soothe his irritation.

"So why are you here with me?" Jake knew what was coming.

"I'm here," Hermione sighed and took out a wooden stick she had in her hand when she first appeared in front of Jake. "I'm here because I have to erase your memory."

_Expelliarmus_

Before Hermione could point her wand at Jake, her hand jerked; she noticed that some force had knocked the wand out of her hand into the bushes. Hermione eyed Jake with alarm and terror. She jumped out of her seat.

"Accio wa. . ."

_Silencio_

Hermione's spell was cancelled as Jake Alexander, owner of unknown powers, stood up. His right arm was still bent, touching his back. She could now see that his hand gripped another wand, pointing straight toward her. She mouthed something he read as "bloody hell".

"Amusing fact about the spell silencio" Jake smiled. "The target of the spell never finds out she's being silenced until someone tells her. In her head, she's making noises like a maniac. She can try to cast all the verbal spells that she want, thinking she's doing it correctly, but nothing happens at all. Perhaps you should try a silent spell next time."

Hermione only stared back, trying to anticipate his next move.

_Gee, calm down will ya?_

"Now that you're all shut up, ready to listen, I shall tell you what I know about you."

_Huh? What does he know about me?_

"You see, Hermione," Jake finally regained his position as the arrogant smartass. "I know everything."

The silence spell was broken.

"What do you know?" Hermione nervously asked the superior magician.

"So now you're asking me questions?" Jake sniggered. "Perhaps I shall shoot you down like you did to me."

_I hate that smirk in his face. It's so much like Malfoy's._

"Don't play with me Jake," Hermione stared at Jake with disdain and anxiety.

"Fine," Jake, upon scoffing at her seriousness, stared at her dispassionately. "I shall tell you."

They stared at each other in suspense.

"Hermione," Jake began. He was truly serious now. The playful, cocky and funny Jake A. was gone. And the soulless, cut-to-the-chase businessman, Jacob M. Alexander, stood in front of Hermione, taking a breath that seemed to last for hours as Hermione's anxiety grew exponentially. Eyes closed and facing the ground, his stone serious face lifted itself mechanically and opened its eyes, signaling the proximity of the truth as if sending out an electric impulse. Jacob declared explicitly with a deep accent, "Hermione, I am your father," and cracked up laughing hysterically. Hermione, swept off her feet by the utterly unexpected crudeness of his joke, couldn't help but to giggle.

"Sit down," Jake made a big smile at Hermione and pointed at the bench they formally sat on. "This might take a while."

They sat down.

"I felt the need to lighten up the mood a bit," he turned his face toward Hermione. "But I'll tell you everything now."

_Well, everything she wanna hear. _

"You are Hermione Granger from Hogwarts." Jacob M Alexander began. "You are the brightest witch of your generation, and you're here probably to find something to aid the War against the Dark Lord"

_Wow, I did not know Hermione can open her mouth that big._

* * *

Hermione had concluded that Jake was ready to be serious. The ice had been broken; she felt ready for what ever unexpected answers she might find from this amusing fellow. 

But she wasn't ready after all; hindsight bias kicked in as she realized how much her jaw had dropped. Jake only smiled at Hermione's embarrassment and took a deep breath.

"My mother's maiden name was Welsh." Jake declared and received another confused stare in return.

Hermione knew no one personally by the name of Welsh, or so she thought. But somehow, her heart was pounding hard, she was breathing heavier, she was feeling a tinge of uneasiness in-between her legs.

"What does that have to do with anything?" Hermione managed, crossing her legs tight.

* * *

"Gee," Jake decided to pretend looking offended. "I thought you'd deem me important enough to be remembered." 

Seeing Hermione's involuntary response, Draco analyzed her cognition. Professor Snape had taught him to read one's mind through her bodily behavior instead of using unreliable magic clouded by Occlumency. He was sure that her consciousness was having a hard time remembering who Jacob Welsh was. But he could see that her body responded to the name noticeably; Hermione was having hard time breathing. She was reacting just as she did when she received Jacob's letters all those years ago. _Spontaneous Recovery works its charm once again_. He felt flattered by the fact that Hermione responded so girlishly upon the mention of his old alias; it had become a conditional stimulus for arousal and exposed the degree of her infatuation with Jacob Welsh before she terminated their friendship.

_Haha, what did she do, touch herself every time she read my letters?_

"I'm the guy you decided to leave behind just to attend Hogwarts." Jacob Welsh decided that his rather perverted thought was out of question.

Tears flooded out of Hermione's eyes like waterfall. Draco was once again amused by Hermione's bodily reaction. _So she did cry when she threw me out of her life._

_Good_, Jake smiled in his head while showing concern in his face. _Flatter me more; it'll only help my cause. _

* * *

"I'm sorry, Jake," Hermione cried as the memory of Jacob Welsh flooded back into her brain. "I'm so sorry for everything." 

_He is the boy I left behind. I remember it all now. I got that letter from Hogwarts and sent him that terrible letter without hesitation. Why did I do it? How could I have done what I did? He didn't deserve it. He probably hates me. Then why does he seem so interested in me? Is this a plot of revenge? No, it can't be; he was never like that... but how will I know if he changed or not? It's been six years. I never knew he was a wizard; how will I know if there are other things he's hiding from me? But why is he here? Why does he have to make me remember him? I was so obsessed with him when I was a kid. I tried so hard to forget... how could he just come and do this to me? Do I have to run away from him again?_

"I tried so hard to forget you," Hermione continued. "I threw your friendship away so impetuously."

"Everything's alright Hermione, everything's perfect." Firm, cold arms embraced Hermione as she wiped her tears; they were Jake's arms. Everything was fine, indeed. Despite the rigidity of the hold, Hermione felt comforted by Jake. She laid her face on his chest and slowly stopped herself from crying. As the sobbing ended, all was silent; Hermione could feel the boy's heartbeat. The slow, firm beats relaxed her breathing; but, when she finally relaxed herself, she noticed that his heart rate had increased dramatically as if it absorbed the tension in her breathing.

_Something wrong?_

"So," Hermione decided to find out. "What do you want to know, Mr. Jacob Alexander-Welsh?"

_

* * *

Ok, Jake, she's in your arms now. Perfect. Everything is going well. Just keep going, just keep going. Now take your plan into action. You're gonna be fine Jake, you rehearsed this over and over. What was I supposed to say again? Talk about sports? Gah, wait, no; she hates sports. Talk to her about my imaginary escapades in Beverly Hill? Fuck no, that's the worst idea possible. Ahhh, I forgot what to say! __Crap, this is worse than the last time. _Draco had made himself nervous holding Hermione so close. 

"Um, ah..., yeah. . . , um" Jake stumbled for words.

"Whyam Ihere, what I have been doing over the years?" Hermione suggested, finding Jake's sudden nervousness amusing.

_Oh, that's right._

"Nervous?" Jake pretended to be confident. "What do you mean nervous? I'm like the most confident, huge-egoed person in the world."

"Haha," Hermione smiled. "Sure"

"Alright," Jake decided that listening would ease his tension. "Answer those questions."

* * *

"When I got on the train leaving for Hogwarts, hindsight bias bit me in the ass like a three-headed dog. I told you I'd be able to make so many friends who are just like me, but you know what I realized? I am weird. There is no one quite like me. But I came to terms with that a little bit late. The first two friends I made thought I was so weird; I don't think they really liked me at first, I know Ron didn't. Harry felt like he had to be nice to me Ithink. You know Harry, the boy who lived? I tried to impress him by fixing his glasses. It was so cute; he had no clue what's so ever about what was going on. I was so surprised to find out that he had no friends growing up, just like me. But he was overwhelmed by the entire magical community trying to make friends with him. I suppose that's why he decided to stick with the little people like Ron and I. Ron, because he had the family Harry never had. Me, well, I suppose because he sympathized with my lack of social skills. 

"You know, it's funny. When I first arrived at Hogwarts, I thought you were Ron. He was so much like you. But he hated me. I thought it was because of that nasty letter I sent you. I tried to be accepted by him, but that didn't quite work and it frustrated me. You know me, I hate things not working. So one day, we almost got ourselves killed by a Cerberus, and I blew up on him; we became enemies after that incident. On Halloween, he said something nasty about me and I overheard it. He said that it's no wonder no one can stand me, that I'm a nightmare. The saddest part of it, it was true. I had no friends. I sacrificed the only one I had, you, for some dumb hope that blew up in my face. And since I thought it came from you, it felt worse.

"So while I was crying my eyes out in the lady's room, a troll came crashing in. When it started attacking me, Ron saved me. We became friends after that; we acted like an old married couple. I asked him if he ever had a pen pal actually, he said no, so I tried to forget you after that, and did."

* * *

"So this Ron guy became my replacement." Jake interrupted. 

"No," Hermione chuckled. "I may break off my relationship with people but I don't replace them."

"Is that what happened with Victor Krum?" Jake laughed.

"Victor Krum?" Hermione, caught off guard, eyed him. "How do you know about Victor Krum and me?"

"You were all over the American tabloids, dear," Jake smirked; Hermione didn't quite enjoy that. "You gotta realize that over here, anything about anyone gets on the paper. Especially by that Rita Skeeter lady. She got a job at the Wizarding Times and has been trashing you ever since."

"That bloody bugger!" Hermione was enraged. "She actually dared writing about me again in some place I didn't look.

"Now, now, kid." Jake chuckled. "Watch your language. Don't worry, she doesn't have a clue where Harry Potti... Potter and you are. The last time she wrote about you two, she wrote about how yal became cowards after Ron Weasley's death and went into hiding."

"So you know about Ron's death." Hermione sighed.

"I'm terribly sorry for your loss," Jake looked sympathetic. "He died a hero and a martyr."

"I know," Hermione stared at the ground; droplets of tear could be seen again, collecting under her eyes. "It's just that..."

* * *

Hermione was sobbing now. Draco imagined she was crying because of Ron's death, but something told him that it was more than that. He also began to feel guilty, for a very good reason only he knew. 

"I'm such a terrible person!" Hermione put her hands on her face. "I got rid of you in a heartbeat. I forced Victor to be just a friend with me. And I made Ron go and get himself killed."

_What? _Jake mouthed.

"You see," Hermione tried to regain her composure. "I had a fight with him right before he went and destroyed the horcrux. He brought me important information on the location of The Dark Lord's fourth horcrux, Ravenclaw's necklace Regulus Black had stolen. It was in the old Malfoy mansion. He wanted to go but I told him I'd go with Harry and others from the Order of Phoenix instead. I was trying to keep him safe but I only stabbed his pride. It ended up with me telling him that he wasn't skilled enough to find and destroy a horcrux and Harry and I will only leave him behind in our attempt."

"So he left to go destroy the horcrux on his own?" Draco guessed.

"Yes," Hermione nodded. "No one know exactly what happened between Ron and the horcrux. Harry and I found Ron unconscious in the mansion next to the broken necklace. He woke up and died a few days after that. Only thing I know about what happened is that two wands were involved. I suppose Ron and the Tom Riddle copy from the necklace had gotten into a duel that ended up in a stale mate."

"Ron died destroying a horcrux and making the world a better place, Hermione," Draco looked at Hermione sympathetically, hiding his guilt. "Be proud of him for that"

_Well, I was the one who actually destroyed the horcrux, and I got him killed in my attempt. I wouldn't have been able to do it if it wasn't for Ron's death.The Dark Lord would have known it was me if Ron wasn't there. If Ron wasn't killed, Dark Lord would have killed me personally. _

"I know," Hermione stopped sobbing. "I am proud of him."

"And perhaps you should tell Katy that Ron didn't do anything cruel to you. She still thinks that he duped you and left." Draco attempted a shot at comic relief.

"Haha," Hermione smiled. "Sure."

"Hmm" Draco smiled sarcastically at Hermione. "I thought I was your first love."

_Well, it's obvious that I can't say anything funny now. Might as well as go to the serious part. _

"Jake," Hermione sighed. "I know you loved me. And I suppose in a way I loved you too."

"Thank you" Jake smiled.

"But," Hermione continued. "I'm scared I'm gonna mess things up like I did with Victor and Krum. I already screwed things over with you once before. I'm scared the same thing's going to happen again.

"Perhaps we should just..."

Jake's hand signaled her to pause.

"Hermione," Jake smiled. "Look, I'm not here expecting us to pick things up from where we left off. For Merlin's sake, that was more than six years ago. All I'm asking is for you to give us another chance. You terminated our friendship because you didn't know I was also a wizard. You ended it because you thought we would be walking on different paths and it would be impossible for me to take your path.

"Guess what? I can walk on the same path with you. You just have to tell me what's going on. You just need to slow down so I can catch up with you, and I promise I'll catch up if you only give me the chance."

Hermione could give nothing but a pondering smile.

"Jake, I. . . " Hermione was interrupted again by Jake.

_Now this is for the kill._

"There's one more thing," Jake stood up, waved his wand around and magically installed a giant stereo system and loud speakers around the courtyard. "Since MJ, the DJ, is gone, I guess I'll have to do this on my own."

Melodious tone from a harp echoed throughout the courtyard.

_Bobby Valentino . . . you know how we do. . . _

"May I have this dance?" Jake stretched his hand out toward Hermione.

* * *

Jake danced with Hermione, one hand holding her hand, one hand holding her hip. 

"Relax," Jake whispered. "What happened to the good old high school dancing where no one knows how to really dance? This ain't no one two step."

"Fine," Hermione chuckled.

They got closer together. Hermione put her arms around Jake's neck as he embraced her hips. They were great dancers, but somehow, they had trouble trying not to step on each other's feet. When they finally relaxed themselves, the song finally began.

* * *

Hermione could feel Jake's breaths passing through her skin. And 

"I saw you walking. . . " he whispered the song into her ears. "You looked like an angel straight out of heaven, girl. I was blown away by, your sexiness, and all I have to do is to catch up to you.

Jake took a hold of Hermione's hand and spun her around, her back now faced him. His hands were upon her hands upon her hips, which moved left and right as their legs slid sideways.

"Slow down," Jake sung. "I just wanna get to know you. But don't turn around, cuz that pretty round thing looks good to me."

Hermione giggled, imagining which round thing he was staring at; there were two pairs.

"Slow down," she could feel Jake's chuckle from his breath upon her skin. "I've never seen anything so lovely. Now turn around, and bless me with your beauty, cutie."

So they danced and danced. Jake sung and whispered. Their hips swayed and undulated. They slid and stepped. And Hermione continued to feel Jake Alexander's warm breaths upon her skin.

"Oh, baby you know by now that I want you bad. I'm floating on open air I can't come down. Cupid hit me already damn. Now I can't leave till seven digits are in my hand, my hand.

"Let me be the one to enjoy you. . .

Jake spun her body to face him again. He was now staring directly into Hermione's eyes. He was no longer whispering.

"Now turn around, and bless me with your beauty." Jake kissed Hermione on her forehead and transferred his feelings through the warmness of his breath.They embraced each other tight and let the chorus of their song take over to finish its course.

* * *

"I'm gonna go get me some food from the vending machine. I'm hungry." Hermione declared. 

Jake and Hermione were sitting on the bench again.

"Alright," Jake answered sleepily. "I'll wait here for you."

"Don't fall asleep on me now." Hermione smiled and walked into the building. "I'll leave you here."

Draco smiled and fell asleep.

* * *

Hermione smiled looking at Jake's face. 

_He fell asleep on me, how cute. Now I get to leave him here. _

But Hermione kept staring at him.

_He looks so innocent when he's asleep. It's just like Ronnie, so adorable. _

Hermione remembered the time Jake kissed her without permission in their first official encounter. She, like Jake, couldn't resist the urge.

_Well, this one will make things even. _

Hermione leaned over and kissed the sleeper's lips. She scribbled something down on a piece of paper and left. She had forgotten all about the incident at the town hall.

_

* * *

She left on me. _

Draco frowned upon noticing the piece of paper Hermione had left a note on. It had Hermione's cell phone number and a note saying "call me".

Draco shook his head and took out his cell phone. He clicked on "recent messages"; it had Hermione's text message and her number.

_Way to give me something I already have. _

Draco Malfoy chuckled and left the building.

Homecoming night had come to an end.

* * *

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	15. Secret Disclosed

YAY! school's over for me

but so is this story. . . I'm sorry, but i'm out

so only 3 more chapters on this thing, but there's gonna be a sequal

And finally, Draco becomes Draco, instead of Jake

Sorry, but I'm gonna skip ALL the romance between the beginning and the ending of Draco and Hermione's relationship.**

* * *

**

**Secret Disclosed**

Previously. . .

_SNAP OUT OF IT! You're here to help Harry, not to enjoy life. _

Hermione walked out of Starbuck and carelessly stepped out of the sidewalk. A familiar voice was heard from behind her.

"HERMIONE! WATCH OUT!"

_Malfoy?

* * *

_

"Well, to start off, I'm Jake." Jake offered his hand for a hand shake.

_What about that kiss you bastard?

* * *

_

"What's the color of your eyes?" Jake asked.

_My eyes?_

"It's brown." Hermione was confused, but answered with a straight face.

_BROWN? What do you mean BROWN? Strange. . . I was sure I saw blue or green. . . _

"Can I at least have your cell phone number?" Jake asked. ". . . If I can get your cell number and call you with it, it will feel more. . . Special."

"Well. . . That's too bad isn't it" Hermione replied coldly and shut the door.

_Ouch. . . I did push too far.

* * *

_

_Dear Hermione Granger . . . . . . . _

_I present to you this teddy bear. As long as you keep this teddy bear, I promise I will never pursue you and always treat you like the lady that you are. I promise I will be as harmless as this teddy bear. _

_I'm sorry for everything,_

_Jacob M. Alexander

* * *

_

"Ask him to the homecoming dance," Katy suggested. "I know he really wants to go with you."

"We'll see." Hermione shrugged.

ScotsBlonde06: Anyways, I need a date for Homecoming Dance. Take it or leave it.

JMAlexTheGrt: fine, I'll go to homecoming wit u

* * *

Draco sighed as the torture show called Homecoming finally came to an end. The clock struck midnight.

* * *

The doctor smiled. "You got into a car accident. You got hit by a drunk driver." 

_Shit! The dance is over!

* * *

_

Jake Alexander stood up and walked away from the dance floor.

Hermione Granger apparated right in front of him as he approached the doors.

They stared into each other's eyes in complete surprise.

"What the hell are you doing here now?" They exclaimed simultaneously.

* * *

"Slow down," she could feel Jake's chuckle from his breath upon her skin. "I've never seen anything so lovely. Now turn around, and bless me with your beauty, cutie."

* * *

Draco fell asleep. 

Hermione couldn't resist the urge.

_Well, this one will make things even. _

Hermione leaned over and kissed the sleeper's lips. She scribbled something down on a piece of paper and left. She had forgotten all about the incident at the town hall.

* * *

_She left on me. _

Draco frowned upon noticing the piece of paper Hermione had left a note on. It had Hermione's cell phone number and a note saying "call me".

Draco shook his head and took out his cell phone. He clicked on "recent messages"; it had Hermione's text message and her number.

_Way to give me something I already have.

* * *

_

Then Hermione had a dream, three months later. . .

"Wait!" Jacob halted as his teacher decided to add one last word. "I may never see you again, Draco. Let me see your true face one last time."

"Fine," Jacob, whose real name turned out to be Draco Malfoy, smiled.

With a flick of a wand, the man transformed himself. His spiked hair grew longer and smoother like silk and lay flatly backwards on his head. The dirtiness of his hair washed out as his hair color transformed into white, platinum blonde. The color in his skin washed away, leaving a cold, pale color. Jacob metamorphed himself into Draco Malfoy.

As Draco touched the ring and disappeared into thin air, Hermione Granger awakened from her disturbing dream in the arm of the man she fell in love with.

"Could Jake really be Malfoy?" Hermione wondered.

* * *

Now. . . 

Hermione just had the best and the worst sex she ever had, all at the same time. It was the first time she had slept with her boyfriend of three months, Jake Alexander, and it felt great. But something strange happened. While making love, Hermione kept seeing Draco Malfoy, her archenemy, instead of Jake. She tried to shake it off by intensifying the passion, but the hotter she became, the deeper Jake went, more of Malfoy she saw. Worst of all, when she finally fell asleep, she had a dream. It wasn't a nightmare, but it felt like one. It showed that Jake was Draco Malfoy.

Hermione stayed immobile on her bed for hours, unable to sleep. She didn't know what to do with what she saw. The dream seemed so real. Jake, like Malfoy, was a blunt and cocky asshole who couldn't stop talking. Jake was indeed more caring and romantic, but Hermione never knew Malfoy well enough to be sure that Malfoy wasn't, at least with his own pure-blooded kind. Hermione hated Malfoy, though. The thought of Jake being Malfoy disgusted her. But despite this, the feeling of being in Jake's arms comforted her.

_We've been together for three months, through the good times and the bad. If he had a secret he would have told me!_

_But if he was Malfoy, he wouldn't have told me that. He would probably wait for me to let off my guard so he can kill me; he might even do it now. _

_How am I supposed to find out? I can't just ask him, can I? He would accuse me of being doubtful of our relationship. Damn it, he's so insecure. It would crush him if he thinks that I would rather trust a dream than his word. _

_Unless I can get him to drink. . . _

Hermione came up with the best idea possible. She needed to get out of the bed, but she had no excuse. The plan required hours of preparation and she had to go now. But she didn't want Jake to feel suspicious of her leaving in middle of the night. She looked around her bedroom, the bedroom where she made love with Jake for the first time. The room was so dark; she could barely make out the ceiling fan's outline. It was the curtain's fault, she thought. Jake had bought her some thick, rose-patterned curtains, claiming that Hermione's apartment needed some color. The thick curtains kept any light from penetrating at all, prompting Hermione to think if he gave it to her so no one would see him murdering her at night. The thought of that gave her goose bumps. The only light came from her glow in the dark clock. It told her that it was 5 A.M. She had found her excuse.

"Hey," Jake grumbled. "It's still dark out!"

"That's because of your stupid curtains," Hermione faked a smile as she got up. "It doesn't let any light in."

"Hey," Jake chuckled. "You said you liked them."

"Maybe I lied." Hermione winked at him.

"What time is it?" Jake asked.

"It's five in the morning," Hermione replied.

"Maybe that's why it's so dark, Hermione." Jake said playfully.

"Well, I always wake up at five," Hermione smiled. "It's a good student's habit."

"It's a Saturday morning!" Jake complained.

"Doesn't make a difference," Hermione kissed Jake on the forehead.

"What are you gonna do when you start living with me?" Jake chuckled. "You better not wake me up at five every morning.

_He's already thinking about living with me?_

"How do you even know I will live with you?" Hermione asked slyly.

"Ah!" Jake pretended to look angry. "I am utterly heartbroken!"

"We'll see," Hermione smiled and kissed her lover's lips. "Here, I believe this will make up for it."

She spread her legs and got on top of Jake's naked body.

_Let this be the last time I'd sleep with a stranger. I just hope his guard is down also.

* * *

_

Jake approached Hermione's apartment that night and rang the door bell. Hermione had left her apartment immediately after they made love, telling him to come over for dinner. Jake never felt as nervous as he did in his life.

Actually, he had felt this nervous before. Jake began to remember Hermione and his first official date. His car had suddenly died and he couldn't use magic because people were watching. He ended up calling the auto shop and asked Hermione to pick him up for their date instead. He hated being picked up, especially by women.

The date itself wasn't too bad. They ate pizza and went ice skating. His situation with Hermione was almost always tense, from the first day of Hogwarts to the high school homecoming dance. He was glad they could have some regular old teenage fun for once.

Things did get tense, though. His body froze when Hermione drove him home. He never expected himself to be dropped off. He wanted to walk Hermione to her door step. He just walked out of the car. But he fame to his senses right before she drove off. He ran right into the car's path and stopped her. She screamed at him, rolling down her window.

"_What the hell are you doing?"_

"_Look, ok," I panted. "I'm sorry about that; it was kinda sudden."_

"_Bloody hell that was!"_

"_Look," I kept talking and talking. "I'm sorry but it's hard for a guy to be romantic when he's the one getting picked up and dropped off by his date, ok?_

"_I mean, think about it. My conservative thinking is telling me that it's your car so you're the boss. I should respect your stature because I'm sitting in the passenger seat. I should let you do what ever you want because it's your damned car!_

"_But I'm the guy. My other conservative thought is telling me that I should be the one making the moves. I've always been the one to make the damned moves! I know that. You know that. You were probably sitting there, silent, waiting for me to bust something out. _

"_But I couldn't, ok? I'm sorry! I couldn't do anything sitting in that car of yours. So I'm out here now having a little outburst, embarrassing the crap out of myself. Just so I can somehow. . ."_

"_Jake," Hermione interrupted me. "Shut up. I don't wanna hear it. I don't wanna hear you whine like a baby. Just stop talking."_

_My jaw dropped in dismay._

"_If you wanna kiss me," but she gave me a warm smile. "Just do it. Or walk away and forever hold your peace."_

"_Haha" And I thought I finally realized something._

"_What?" She asked._

"_You told me that your eyes were brown." I chuckled. "I don't know what you were talking about, but I just realized. It's blue, and it's beautiful."_

_Yup, we stared at each other for a while and finally had our first official, voluntary kiss. I later found out that she wore colored contacts and felt really stupid. But I thought it was pretty romantic._

_But what's the occasion here though? She's actually making me dinner. What are we doing? Celebrating us making love for the first time?_

Hermione opened the door and smiled.

"Come in."

Jake looked around the plain old apartment of Hermione. It was indeed one of the most boring, dull looking places Jake had ever laid eyes upon. It had no posters, flowers, art works, dolls, or anything. Jake had never paid too much attention to Hermione's apartment before. He regretted looking around because it was truly a turn off.

"Come over to the kitchen," Hermione said. "I've got an expensive bottle of wine."

"Hermione breaking the laws," Jake was now impressed. It was one of the things Draco liked about Hermione, her willingness to break, or bend, laws for her self-righteous benefit. She usually had a good reason for everything; but, to Draco, a law breaker was a law breaker. To Draco, Hermione was just another bad girl wearing the outfit of a nerdy maverick.

"I'm already an illegal immigrant," Hermione smiled slyly. "What's the difference if I break a law on drinking alcohol?"

"But I'm not an Illegal." Draco lied, edging closer to Hermione, feeling the heat.

"Well," Hermione chuckled. "It's not like you don't already drink."

"But they don't know that, do they?" Draco played with the buttons on Hermione's blouse. He unbuttoned the one on top and began to tinker around with Hermione's bra.

"Well, you can tell them that I forced you to." Hermione put her hand on Jake's chest, feeling the lean texture of his body.

"Hmm," Jake smiled and pressed Hermione onto the refrigerator door. "By force, you mean like this?" His fingers rolled upward past her neck, toward her cheek. His hand held her softly, yet powerfully. He kissed her.

Surprisingly, Hermione broke away from the kiss. She turned her face to her side and pushed him back, looking at his feet.

"Not right now, Jake." Hermione was breathing hard, as if she was in some kind of a trance.

There was a brief period of awkward silence.

_Damn, I hate awkward silences._

"Um," Draco tried to break the ice. "Should I leave?"

"Oh," Hermione snapped out of her trance and looked up. "No, don't leave. Have some wine." She offered him the wine bottle and a wine glass.

"Alright," Jake chuckled, feeling a bit strange as Hermione poured some wine into the glass.

"You can go sit down," Hermione nervously pointed at her dinner table. "I'll be right over."

"Ok," Jake ignored the fact that Hermione was acting very strange and walked toward the dinner table. "You got table cloths, overly large one by that, but they look nice."

"Thanks," Hermione returned what seemed to be a fake smile.

_Man, just because we had sex, it doesn't mean things have to be weird. How did she manage with that Weasel in the first place?_

Jake sat comfortably on a chair and sipped his wine; it did taste quite well. Hermione walked slowly over to the table and sat down. She stared into Jake's eyes like an interrogator, making him nervous.

"Jake," Hermione initialized the interrogation. "What is your real name?"

_Jacob M. Alexander._

"Draco Malfoy," Jacob M. Alexander systematically answered. His jaws dropped immediately afterwards.

_Shit, I drank Veritaserum.

* * *

_

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	16. A Convict's Confession

2nd part of the 3 part ending!

This one is a little long and hopefully you remember stuff from the previous chapters

Read and review **

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**

**A Convict's Confession**

Draco had a bad feeling. He had just confessed to his girlfriend, Hermione Granger, that he was Draco Malfoy, her archenemy and the man who caused the downfall of the great Albus Dumbledore. Hermione now knew his darkest secret and looked as if she was going to kill him.

_I need my wand. I love her but I don't know what she'll do to me. On the count of three, one, two, three!_

But Draco couldn't move. As a matter of fact, he couldn't feel his body at all. Suddenly, Hermione pulled the table cloths off of the clear table, prompting Draco to look down. Past the see-through table, he could see the wand in Hermione's hand, pointing straight at him. He looked at his body; it was fused into the chair and the floor.

_Well, I believe it's safe to say that I'm dead.

* * *

_

"What goes around really does come around doesn't it?" Malfoy, not Jake, chuckled. "I magically trap you at Homecoming, and now you trap me in your apartment."

Hermione didn't know what to react. She had prepared all day for this outcome. She mixed the Veritaserum she had acquired from Professor Slughorn with wine. She bought a tablecloth in order to conceal her want. And she prepared all the questions for her interrogation in case Jake confessed that he was Draco Malfoy.

But the problem was that she didn't know how to react. She had prepared to thoroughly, but never expected it to happen. It did, and she didn't know what to do anymore. She loved Jake, but she hated Malfoy.

"I. . ." Hermione stuttered. "I. . . I don't think that's the problem, Jak. . . Malfoy."

_Come on Hermione, bring yourself together. He's Malfoy; remember that, he's Malfoy!_

"You know why I had to do this," Hermione stated, staring at Malfoy's body parts melted into the furniture. "You are my enemy, and I have to deal with you. Why. . . "

"Since I can't tell a lie, please believe me when I say this," Draco interrupted. "I never came here to serve the Dark Lord. I never came here to hurt you."

"Bull crap!" Hermione exploded. "You know damn well that a person under Veritaserum can lie all he wants. He just have to tell the truth when he is asked."

Draco chuckled. "It's funny; you really talk like an American now. I can't judge, but I'm surprised how quickly you've adapted to the American Lang. . ."

Hermione slapped him in the face. Unable to move his hand, Malfoy failed to wipe off the drop of tear that rolled off of his eyes. All he could do was to face her again. She eyed him back, eyes bloodshot. She tried so hard to keep the tears from rolling off her own eyes.

"Malfoy. . . Jake," she managed. "Please, just. . . just do what I'm telling you to do."

"Well," Malfoy sighed. "I suppose I deserved that slap. Fine, ask away."

_First, a few basics._

"First of all," Hermione initialized. "Why are you here?"

"I'm here to be with you, Hermione," Malfoy answered. "And please don't slap me again."

"Why did you come to America to start out with?" Hermione sighed.

"To hide from the Dark Lord," Malfoy answered.

_What did he do, fail him too many times? That's expected, Malfoy is a cowardly ass anyways._

"Why?" Hermione thought she would ask anyways.

"Why?" Malfoy sighed. "Because I couldn't do it; I couldn't bring myself to kill the muggles when I saw the irrationality of the Dark Lord's ways."

_Huh?_

"Wait," Hermione didn't know what to ask anymore; his answers were not what she expected. "Are you telling me that you, a pure-blooded death-eater, are not prejudiced against the muggle race?"

"Yes," Malfoy bluntly answered. "I don't hate the muggles or so I usually call mud-bloods. I've been pretending I that did all of my life to stay alive."

_I have to make sure. . . _

"Have you been pretending that you hated muggles to stay alive?" Hermione redundantly asked.

"For crying out loud," Draco exclaimed. "Hermione, I'm not gonna lie to you. Yes!"

_He is Jake, after all. I should be able to trust him. But he's been lying to me about who he is this whole time. How am I supposed to trust him?_

"Either way," Hermione pointed her wand at Malfoy. "You're still Draco Malfoy. I have to treat you as who you truly are."

Malfoy shut his eyes in fear, preparing for death, but what hit him did not kill him. He hardly felt anything at all. Through the partial reflection of the glass mirror, he noticed that he no longer had the look of Jacob M. Alexander. He was back to being Draco Malfoy once again.

"Do you have to do this to me?" Malfoy looked annoyed.

"It's not like I enjoy looking at your real face." Hermione sighed.

_Actually it does look better than Jake's face, but nevertheless I hate Malfoy._

"Fine," Malfoy pouted. "Hurry up and ask me questions."

"I will," Hermione eyed him with resentment.

_Buggers, I don't know what to ask him anymore. I never expected him to give that as an answer. What am I supposed to do now?_

"Gah," Malfoy interrupted her, looking annoyed. "Do you even know what you're gonna ask me?"

"No," Hermione muttered, embarrassed.

"Wow," Malfoy sighed. "Of all the people, I never expected you to be unprepared."

"I'm sorry," Hermione avoided eye contact. "I never expected you to give the answer that you gave. I don't really know what to ask now."

"You know what," Malfoy sighed. "I'll just tell you what to ask me so I can prove to you that I'm not here to comply with the Dark Lord's needs."

Hermione only stared back in amusement and mistrust.

"Ask me when I got the name of Jacob and how."

"When and how did you get the name of Jacob?"

"My mother gave me the alias when I was six so I could begin learning about the world outside the pure-blood society. I used it to write letters to you and now I use it for my protection. Now ask me why Severus Snape killed Dumbledore."

_What is he trying to do?_

"Why did Prof. . . Snape murder Dumbledore?"

"He did because Dumbledore asked him to. Dumbledore knew he was going to die anyway and it was the only way to save my pathetic life. Now ask me how I feel about my parents."

"How do you feel about your parents?"

"I hate my father and the Dark Lord killed him for my failure to kill Dumbledore. I love my mother. She was the one who showed me the error of the death-eaters' ways and the only woman who has always cared for me for who I really am. Now ask me if I have ever killed anyone."

"Have you murdered anyone?"

"No, I have not. As a matter of fact, the closest I've ever come to killing a person is I almost killing myself. And this brings up an interesting point."

_What is he trying to do now?_

"Ask me how old I am."

_What?_

"How old are you, Malfoy?"

"Physically, I'm actually 21." Malfoy gave a chuckle.

_What? But he's supposed to be younger than me! He should still be 17!_

"Yes," Malfoy continued. "I know I should be 17, but it is indeed the truth."

"Why? How?" Hermione asked her first question in a long time.

"Finally you ask some questions," Malfoy laughed. "Well, it's kinda complicated. You see, I was put under the time turner training by the Dark Lord."

"What is that?"

"The Dark Lord needed best of the best to lead his army, but the older wizards had proven themselves weak and we younger wizards were too inexperienced. So he decided to give the most promising wizards a time turner. Basically, we were locked up in a room where we kept going back in time to fight our past self. Knowing what we put ourselves into, we didn't try to kill each other on the spot, but fighting our past or future selves with all our might got many of us killed. Some tried to be smart by not fighting and training their hardest. But Severus provided the Dark Lord with Veritaserum to see if each wizard was trying his hardest to kill, well, himself. If he wasn't, the Dark Lord put him through the worst form of torture and then killed him. We went through that process for about a month, saving years of actual training time at the cost of our age. I was put in to the group as a space-filler. The Dark Lord expected me to die on the first day, but I was one of the three who survived. And that is why you couldn't out duel me at the Homecoming Dance."

"Who else survived?"

"Well, I know Blaise Zabini survived, but I don't know the name of the other guy; he was French, though. I made my escape a couple days after the training ended, so I never got to know him and how he managed to survive."

"How did you manage to survive?"

"Well, you may think that I don't know myself that well, that I'm confused about who I am. That's understandable because I did create a fake identity after all. But I do know myself quite well. I knew exactly what drove me, what kept me alive. I kept myself alive by making sure that I kept my opposing self driven. I made sure that he wanted to defeat me as much as I wanted to defeat him."

"I see," Hermione muttered.

"Do you have anymore questions?" Malfoy asked.

"No," Hermione sighed. "That was it, and I. . ."

"Hermione," Malfoy interrupted her. "I need you to ask me one more question. I need you to ask me if I love you."

_Is he actually going to do this to me? Why does he have to torture me like this?_

"Hermione," Malfoy pleaded. "Please."

"Fine," Hermione sighed. "Do you, Draco Malfoy, love me?"

"I," Malfoy captured Hermione's eye and her heart. "I, Draco Malfoy, the ex-death-eater and a pure-blood, love you, Hermione Granger, a muggle born and my born enemy, from the bottom of my heart. I have loved you from the days we only wrote letters to each other. Like I, as Jake, was for you, you were my only real friend. You are my best friend. You are my only friend. And you are the only girl for me. I love you. You don't need no Veritaserum to know that."

_I love him. No, I don't love him. Yes, I love him. No, I don't. Damn it Hermione! You love Jake Alexander!_

"Malf. . . Draco," Hermione tried to speak. "Look, I love you too. I've always loved you, you know that. But I love Jake Alexander. He is the man I fell in love with. You are Jake Alexander, but you are also Draco Malfoy, my archenemy, my born enemy. I can't love you. That's not how things are supposed to be. It doesn't work that way. No where in history have we seen such thing happen. I can't fall in love with you, Draco Malfoy."

"But I am Jacob Alexander," Draco argued back. "It may be hard to believe, but that is who I am. I may not have been born Jake Alexander, but I am certainly him, not Draco Malfoy. I was only born a Malfoy; don't hate me for something I couldn't control. But all of my life, I've tried to become who I want to be, someone loveable, someone unprejudiced, while staying alive. I can now do that. Please let me be who I am. Let me be Jake Alexander. Let me love you."

Tears began to flow off Hermione's eyes. Draco noticed the puddle of tears on the table.

"Hermione," Draco sighed. "At least let me move my arms so I can wipe the tears out of your eyes and your table."

"Draco, Jake," Hermione sobbed. "I don't know what to do. I want to love you so much, but what are others going to think of us? How are we supposed to keep our relationship intact. I have to go back to England and you'll get killed the moment you step foot on that island. Why does this have to happen? I never wanted to fall in love with you. I never expected any of this to happen. I never expected to talk to you as Jake. I never expected to see you as Draco. I came here to find the lost horcrux. All I found out was that Josh was Jonathon Ferry's squib grandson. Everything that was supposed to happen didn't and all the unexpected crap happened."

"Well," Draco sighed. "Since I have to answer your question, I must say that people are gonna think we're strange, that we betrayed our own kind. But I don't care about that. As for why does this have to happen, I say fate. You can't defy fate, Hermione. We all do the best we can."

"Well," Hermione stopped crying. "Fate isn't good enough for me. I wish you were just Jake and not Draco Malfoy."

"Look," Draco looked into Hermione's eyes with full of seriousness and compassion. "Hermione, I wish every day and night that I was born Jacob M. Alexander instead of Draco Malfoy, but I have to deal with that. I know many unexpected events happened. I know that you're very confused right now. I am too. I never expected to meet you here. I never expected to be with you. But there are a few things I am sure of. I have always been in love with you, Hermione. Everything that I have told you, about my feelings, about my actions before Hogwarts, is true. The only thing I have ever lied to you about is my identity. The situation of our upbringing caused us to be born enemies. Neither of us could control that. I wanted to be with you for so long. I. . . I just wanted a fair chance with you, a fair chance to earn a place next to you, a fair chance to win your heart."

Draco suddenly fell to the floor. His body was no longer bound to his environment. He looked back at Hermione with a surprised realization that she had apparently released him from bondage. He showed a smile but still didn't move a muscle.

"I'm really numb right now," Draco chuckled. "You mind helping me up?"

Hermione smiled and stood up. She walked over to where Draco was lying and gave him a hand, but she was only pulled down by him instead. Draco pulled Hermione down to his level and kissed her in the lips.

"Stop!" Hermione only pushed Draco back. She tried to manage a smile but failed. "Jake. . . I mean Draco, not now. I'm not ready for that yet; not for a while."

"Fine," Draco smiled and helped Hermione up. "I suppose I'll just drink some more of this wine."

"You know that's Veritaserum right?" Hermione chuckled.

"I know," Draco laughed. "And I also know that this is a controlled substance you most likely had gotten from Slughorn. I doubt you have any left so I might as well as prevent you from doing this to me again."

_Well, isn't he just strategic? He's still hiding something. I have to know._

"Well, since you're like that," Hermione smiled. "I might as well as ask you some more questions." She saw Draco freeze, face full of dread.

"Oh, relax," Hermione chuckled. "It can't be that bad. You already turn it around once."

"Fine," Draco sighed.

"Draco," Hermione initialized. "I've always wondered about this one thing because the healers didn't provide me with a good explanation fro what happened. I need some closure, Draco, and since you are, I mean were a death-eater, I was hoping you'd know. How did Ron destroy the horcrux in Ravenclaw's pendant? And how did he die?"

The wine came out of Draco's nose with that question.

_He knows something._

"Well," Draco sighed. "I was hoping we didn't have to come to this."

Draco took out his wand and, knowing that Hermione would react defensively, gestured for her to not take her wand out. He waved the wand at the table and transfigured it into a Pensieve. Then, he pulled a thread of mist from his temple with his wand and let it drop into the Pensieve.

"Go ahead," Draco gulped. "As much as I want to, you know I can't stop you."

Hermione stared into the Pensieve.

* * *

Hermione stood in the middle of a magnificent ballroom that reminded her of the Yule Ball. This wasn't Hogwarts though, it was bigger. As she quickly realized, it was the Malfoy Manor.

"Welcome to my home," Draco revealed himself through his invisibility cloak and looked right into her eyes. "Looking for something?"

"Wha. . . what?" Hermione looked around, startled to realize that Ron stood right behind her. She got out of his way.

_Draco was actually with Ron when he destroyed the horcrux?_

"Where's Ravenclaw's pendant, Malfoy!" Ron demanded.

"Ohhh," Draco sniggered, she hadn't seen that in a while. "Little Weasel trying to act tough. How amusing it is to watch."

"Shut up and tell me where it is!" Ron yelled only causing Draco to laugh even more.

"You mean this?" Draco took out an old locket from his robe and let it dangle in his hands. "I'm afraid you can't have it for it is mine."

He bent down and placed the locket on the floor.

_What is he doing?_

"Even an idiot of your sort may know," Draco scoffed. "That horcruxes are parts of a wizard's soul. It may be a part of a wizard's personality or it may be a part of his abilities. Tom Riddle's diary was my Lord's past stored in a horcrux. As for this locket, it contains most of the Dark Lord's rationality and ability to possess other beings. As you may realize, I can not let you destroy such an important part of my Lord's soul."

"Well that's too bad isn't it? Because I'll kill you if I have to." Ron eyed Draco in contempt.

"Well then," Draco smiled slyly. "I would like you to meet my Lord."

The locket opened as Draco chanted something under his breath. Through a beam of light, a transparent, ghastly figure of the Dark Lord appeared, causing Ron to flinch. The ghost eyed Ron with its empty white eyes.

"Draco. . ." the ghost began to speak. "I am still too weak to possess full grown wizards. You must weaken him for me."

"That Weasel isn't worth a full grown wizard, sire," Draco sniggered. "But your wish is my command, my Lord."

Draco took out his wand and approached Ron who was already in his dueling stance.

"I dare you to try me," Ron carefully examined Draco's movements.

"I'm sorry," Draco smirked. "But you are way below my league."

_Ron! Run away! He's too strong for you!_

"Then why don't you take this!" Ron cast three shots of spells from his wand straight at Draco. Draco easily dodged all three of them.

"So you've gained some speed have you?" Draco laughed. "But that's not quite enough, you see." He only walked closer toward Ron until he was in point blank range.

"I dare you to do that again." Draco said slyly.

Ron did it again. This time, the spells only shot through Draco, who seemed to be appearing and disappearing by the milliseconds.

_He's using apparition to dodge Ron at point blank range! _

Draco disapparated but his presence was still felt in the great ballroom.

"You can't kill me Weasley!" Draco's voice echoed through the room. "You're too slow to keep up!"

"Bloody hell," Hermione heard Ron mutter under his breath. "He's using apparition."

It seemed to Hermione that Ron was actually keeping up with Draco's movements as his eyes moved from left to right, from top to bottom, chasing after Draco.

"I have to do the same." Ron muttered and disapparated.

Rays of spells shot in all directions through out the room, destroying the beauty of the ballroom in an instant. Hermione, being the nonexistent observer, remained harmless while parts of the ceiling began to collapse. A giant boulder suddenly fell and crushed the Ravenclaw's pendant.

"Hurry Draco!" the ghastly figure of the Dark Lord screeched. "The pendant is crushed! I need a body quickly!"

At that instant, disarmed body of Ron appeared out of nowhere and crashed onto the floor. Draco appeared moments after on top of him with one hand grabbing his neck and the other pointing the wand at his face.

"NO!" Hermione screamed, unheard and tears rolling off her eyes. "Don't kill him!"

"You can't beat me in my own game Weasel." Draco sniggered. "I'm afraid you've just lost your body for the Dark Lord's cause."

"Gettof me!" Ron tried and failed to knock Draco off.

"Just give up Weasley," Draco smirked. "You don't have to worry about a thing, especially that little whore of yours."

He's talking about me?

"Leave Hermione alone!" Ron screamed.

"Oh, relax, Weasley," Draco sniggered, face full of evil Hermione had never seen before, almost as if he was possessed. "You're little whore will be fine. I will take care of her good."

"NOOOOOOOOO!" Hermione screamed, drenched in tears.

A ray of light shot out of Draco's wand and hit Ron's face at point blank range. Draco stayed in his position for a while, staring at Ron's unconscious body, until the inpatient horcrux broke him out of his trance.

"Move, Draco! Hurry!" the horcrux screeched.

"Yes, my Lord." Draco got up and out of the horcrux's way. "He is all yours."

Hermione collapsed onto her knees as the horcrux went into her Ron's body. The ballroom door burst open as Hermione saw Harry and the real her entered the room. The ceiling collapsed all around her and all she saw was darkness. All she heard was the sound of the collapsing room and Harry keeping the ceiling above Ron intact and the real her crying and screaming for Ron to wake up.

_Malfoy was responsible for Ron's death. . .

* * *

_

Upon the end of the vision, Draco was busy recollecting his thread of memory and putting it back into his temple, his brain.

"Now, before you say anything, there's more to this so don't try to kill me yet." Draco smiled and looked toward where Hermione was standing. His jaw dropped with the realization that Hermione was already gone.

_Damn it, she left before I could show her the second part. _

Draco looked around the room in panic.

_I can't sense her so she's no where in Sugar Land. Where the hell could she be?_

As he was about to give up, he came upon the realization that there was only one place she could possibly go.

_England. . . _

"I've got to stop her." Draco muttered and disapparated into thin air.

* * *

CIA Headquarters, New York, New York

Draco and Hermione had no idea that the town of Sugar Land was now under close observation of the American government. Ever since the failed capture of the "Hooded Girl", CIA had made sure they would catch every little glitch that occurred in the town. Neither Draco nor Hermione had the need to use magic for months, living like muggles. It wasn't until the night of revelation that the CIA found anything.

"Sir," Agent Thomas called out to his boss, Senior Agent Michaels. "We've pinpointed the location of the witch. It seems that there's a witch and a wizard and they're both in the same place."

"I see," Agent Michaels walked over and stared into the giant computer screen. He grabbed the secure phone on the desk. "Hello, this is Robert Michaels, head of the CIA Magical Technology Division. We've pinpointed the location of the "Hooded Girl." Have the black ops been trained for the new trap and capture method?"

Agent Michaels heard a confident yes from the speaker.

"Good," Agent Michaels smiled. "Get the black ops ready and wait for me to reach there. I will be leading them this time."

Upon hanging up, Agent Michaels, Jonathon Ferry's former favorite pupil, Jonathon Ferry Jr.'s old mentor, the man who caused the demise of Jonathon Ferry Jr., and the man who made sure Josh Ferry would be taken care of upon his father's death, took out his wand.

"I'm not going to let history repeat itself again, Jonathon, trust me." Agent Michaels muttered under his breath and disapparated.

* * *

Ending coming up soon


	17. Love Undestined

Here we go with the last chapter

what ever happens, just remember that there's gonna be a sequal**

* * *

**

Love Undestined

A Year ago

Hermione only had two more apparition lessons before she had to undergo the apparition test. As usual, she was already a master apparitionist; she just had to get licensed.

"As you know," the teacher began. "We've only got two more lessons until you will all have to take the apparition test. Some of you have mastered the art of apparition." She eyed Hermione, who couldn't stop smiling. "Most of you seem to be good shape for the test. And a few of you still need some work." She eyed Ron who tried to hide behind Harry. Hermione giggled.

"For that reason," he continued. "We will now begin to focus on the abstract and technical concepts of apparition instead of the practical. Now who can tell me how apparition works?"

"Oh, oh, I know, I know!" Hermione raised her hand immediately, jumping up and down, madly waving her hand.

"It seems that you have studied ahead again, Hermione," he allowed her to answer, a little annoyed. "You may answer the question."

"Apparition, from the spectator's point of view, is an immediate process. This is because apparition involves moving against time. To a spectator, one may be disappearing and reappearing in an instant; but, to the one using the apparition technique, he is actually spending a short period of time traveling.

"Once the wizard disapparates, he enters the fourth dimension, or the stream of time. Most people do not realize this because they usually fly against the time stream for only an instant. Human body is designed to move along the flow of the time stream, not against it; and because of this, apparition may cause a person's body to be ripped apart in the process. Therefore, apparating through a great distance is tremendously dangerous.

"But conquering this danger allows one to witness one of the greatest magical phenomena of all time. When one apparates across the continents, one will remain in the time stream for several seconds, or even minutes. Despite the danger, this will allow one to have voluntary movements within the stream of time. He can move his body and even cast spells. And the most fantastic of all, if the wizard is experienced enough, he doesn't even need to think of the place he is going; he can simply fly against the stream long enough until he finds his desired location. This is especially useful if the wizard is trying to find something or trying to _hide_ from the three dimensional reality."

Most of the students stared at Hermione as they did not know what in the world she was talking about.

"In simpler words," the teacher sighed and decided to provide his answer. "Apparition involves moving in the fourth dimension and you can control your actions there."

The class continued on.

* * *

Side Story

October 1st, 2005, 3 weeks before the Homecoming Dance

Katy sat in the hospital room, nervously waiting. She should have been used to this; she had been here many times before. She sat here for an entire day when her best friend broke her leg. When her grandpa died, she was here again and cried her eyes out. When her father suffered a stroke, she had sat next to his bed for two straight days, ignoring the hospital attendants trying to kick her out, praying that he would be alright. When nothing was wrong, she'd come visit her favorite doctor, Dr. McFarley, Josh's father. But this wasn't something she was used to. This was something completely different. She was the sick one this time.

Katy flipped through an old issue of the Seventeen Magazine. It ran an article about how a girl should impress her boyfriend. Annoyed, she tossed the interesting, yet waste of paper away.

_Damn it, I don't need to impress Josh. He practically worships the ground I walk on. I need the newest issue. _

Just in time, Dr. McFarley walked in.

"Dr. McFarley!" Katy jumped up and hugged him. "It's so good to see you! I haven't seen you in ages!" She had seen him only a week ago.

She released her hold only to realize that her doctor wasn't smiling. He looked as if he was about to cry.

"What's going on?" Katy asked, full of concern.

Katy had been experiencing many strange incidents lately. She had been tripping randomly while dancing with the marching band for no reason. She was one of the best dancers; there was no reason for her to experience that every so often. Occasionally, she would have head-splitting headaches. And sometimes, she couldn't even hold a pen. Her parents and friends thought it was just fatigue from school, and she agreed with them. But one day, she passed out under the Sun, hit her head, and was sent to the hospital, the hospital where Dr. McFarley was in charge.

"I have some bad news, Katy." Dr. McFarley said, trying to hold back the tears for a girl who was like a daughter to him. "You see, the CAT scan has revealed that you have a rare disease called Ataxia."

"What is that?" Katy asked. She had never heard of the disease before; most people hadn't.

"You see," Dr. McFarley sighed, wishing she wasn't in the situation so that he wouldn't have to explain the disease to her. "Ataxia is a form of cerebellar and spinocerebellar degeneration. The initial symptoms are dizziness, stumbling, having trouble picking things up, and trouble with depth perception."

"Yes," Katy agreed. "I've experienced all of those symptoms. But that sounds like your regular old high school fatigue to me."

"I know," the doctor sighed. "But tragically, you will get worse. What I am about to tell you will not make anything better nor will it make you feel any better. Eventually, you will become unable to write, walk, or talk. Finally, you will be bed-bound and unable to do anything."

"There's no cure?" Katy put her hands over her mouth.

"I'm sorry, honey," the doctor sat down along with her. "There's no known cure for this disease. Bluntly saying, you. . . you have less than a year to live."

_Oh, my God! What am I going to do?_

"Sadly," the doctor eyed Katy's dismayed face. "The only advice I can give you in this matter is that you should enjoy your life as much as possible with your family, with your friends, with Josh. When it comes down to it, I will take care of you. I will make sure that this hospital takes care of you."

Suddenly, Dr. McFarley's beeper began ringing. He annoyingly grabbed it and looked at the screen.

"I'm sorry, Katy," he eyed her apologetically. "But I have to go to the emergency room. Too many patients from Hurricane Katrina and Rita, you see."

As he opened the door, Katy grabbed his arm, prompting him to stop.

"Sir," Katy tried to hold back her tears. "Please don't tell Josh about this."

"Katy," the doctor smiled. "When I am here, my son, my healthy, perfectly fine son's emotional needs comes last to you, my patient's need."

* * *

December, 2005

Katy's health was deteriorating rapidly now. She couldn't hide her secret forever. She had to get out of Josh's life. She didn't want him to be emotionally attached to her and watch her die. She needed an excuse to break up with him.

"Josh," Katy eyed Josh with seriousness. "Where do you think our relationship is going?"

It was the perfect question. Katy thought it was failure proof for break ups. If he had given her an answer involving them being together lovingly, she would say he was moving too fast. If he had said something else, she would have used that as an excuse to break up, because she expected the other answers to be bad answers.

"What do you mean?" Josh replied.

"I mean, what do you see us doing in the future?"

With this, Josh's face seemed to light up as if he had come up with the perfect reply. Katy smiled inside; with this, she would find an excuse to break up with him, saving him from future misery like she should have done during the Homecoming Dance. The arrogant-faced Josh provided the worst answer possible.

With a cocky tone he said, "Well, I see myself sleeping with you."

_So Josh only wanted to have sex with me. That hurts. I loved him so much; I thought he loved me even more. What's going on here? Since when did Josh, my Josh, become a sex addict?_

Great sadness filled Katy's heart as she looked down, almost breaking into tears by the fact that Josh didn't provide the perfect answer, the perfect reason for Katy to break up with him.

"I didn't mean sex, you know" Josh warmly interrupted her emotional breakdown.

"I see myself, a few days from now, on Christmas day. I'd be lying on a comfortable couch, with you in my arms, head on my shoulders. We'd be next to a warm fire, covered in comfortable blankets, drinking hot chocolate. You might have fallen asleep while I read you some romance book. Not one of those trashy ones filled with sex and passion, but something about a couple who ended up together against all odds. I'd stroke your hair while you're asleep and see your dad walking in asking 'what the hell are you doing to my daughter?' and I'd just reply 'shh, she's just sleeping' and I'd fall asleep too, with you in my arms. That's what I see us doing in the future. Was that the answer you were looking for?"

Katy only stared at him in bewilderment.

"Of course," Josh laughed. "The whole fireplace thing probably won't work because it ain't that cold down here in Texas. But that was a pretty good answer, don't you think?"

"No," Katy broke down and wept, "What are you trying to do to me? Why aren't you giving me terrible answers? I'm trying to break up with you here! How am I supposed to break up with you if you say something as sweet as that?"

"Then," Josh chuckled. "Don't break up with me. That's quite obvious I believe."

_I have to do this, now._

"Josh," Katy changed her tone to a tough, unwavering voice. "Look, Josh, I'm moving. I'm moving out of state."

"You're gonna break up with me because of that?" Josh laughed. "We can still keep in touch you know. Long-distance relationships do work."

"Josh," Katy looked annoyed. "You don't understand. I am not going to tell you where I am going."

"What?" Josh was outraged. "Why can't we stay in touch at least? You can't do that to me! Not after everything we've been through!"

"I'm sorry Josh," Katy sighed. "You're just going to have to make peace with it."

_I should never have run after him that night at Homecoming._

Katy walked away. She would cry on her bed the whole weekend for she knew she had to move the next Monday. She didn't move very far, actually; she just didn't want her friends to know where she had moved to.

* * *

At the same time, Draco stood in middle of Hermione's living room, trying to figure out what to do. Draco knew that to get to England, Hermione had to apparate across America and the Atlantic Ocean. That meant that if he went back in time and disapparated the moment Hermione did, he would be able to stop her. He apparated back to his house and grabbed his time turner. Immediately, he apparated back to the Hermione's apartment. Situating himself in a location where he would be able to watch unnoticed, he turned the time back by ten minutes, moments before Hermione disapparated. 

Time turned all around him. He saw himself moving backwards, disappearing, and reappearing right in front of the Pensieve. Soon enough, Hermione reappeared. Turning of time stopped and Draco prepared himself to disapparate.

Hermione and Draco disapparated together.

* * *

Draco had absolutely no clue how to stop Hermione in the fourth dimension. It was only his second time traveling a long distance after all. He flew closely behind her, unnoticed, against the whirling stream of time. He could see the three dimensional world underneath him, under the thick barrier that separated the two dimensions. They were already crossing the Atlantic. 

_I have to do something, but how? I'm in the fourth dimension._

"_He can move his body and even cast spells. . ."_

"Hermione!" Draco called out. "Wait!"

Hermione looked back, surprised to see Draco behind her. She accelerated, attempting to outrun him, but Draco accelerated even more, risking his body being torn apart; a piece of his shirt sleeve ripped away from him, torn into smithereens.

"Hermione!" Draco screamed for her. "Please wait! You can't run away from me forever; I'm a better flyer than you! Please just stop and let me explain!"

Hermione slowed down, seemingly given up on running away from him. But she turned around and started casting spells at him instead.

"Hermione, stop!" Draco screamed, dodging and deflecting the red rays of light that came his way. "It's too dangerous! You can get yourself killed!"

Hermione didn't say a word; she just kept on throwing curses and jinxes at him. Realizing that he couldn't convince Hermione to stop, Draco only accelerated, dodging and deflecting at the same time, until he was flying right on top of Hermione. Before Hermione could react, Draco bear-hugged Hermione, preventing her from casting another spell. Hermione struggled hard, trying to free herself from him, but more she struggled, harder he held on to her.

"Gettof me!" Hermione screamed, but Draco wasn't listening.

"Hermione," Draco whispered to her ears, eyes teary. "I'm sorry you had to watch that. But there's more to the story than what I've just showed to you. Please, let me explain, Hermione. I'm not a cold blooded killer, you know that."

They flew in that position for what seemed to be hours with Draco holding onto Hermione's body. They were close to England now. Draco knew if he set foot on England, he would be caught. They still had a chance to turn back and change their final destination.

"I only have one question for you, Draco," Hermione muttered.

"Ask me anything." Draco tried to smile, hoping things would end happily.

"Were you responsible for Ron's death?" Hermione asked.

_Why is she asking me that? She already knows the answer!_

"Yes," Draco answered. "But there's more to it than what you saw."

"No," Hermione muttered. "That's the only thing that matters."

That moment, Hermione kneed Draco where it hurts. Immediately, Draco lost hold of Hermione and got swept away with the stream of time. Hermione, on the other hand, flew on and disappeared into her desired destination.

* * *

Outside Hermione's Apartment

"Sir," Captain Weaver walked over to Agent Michaels. "There's no one in the apartment. They're gone."

"It seems so," Agent Michaels agreed, looking slightly irritated. "But either way, we must stay here."

"Would you like us to break in and search the apartment, sir?" Captain Weaver asked knowing constitutional rights may be revoked for the safety of the National Security.

"Not now," Agent Michaels answered. "The witch may still come back. The apartment is the only place we can safely trap her."

"But sir," Captain Weaver argued. "The last time we tried to trap her in a room, she overwhelmed us and escaped."

"That's because we underestimated her; she was a witch and none of you were a wizard." Agent Michaels answered. "This time, there is a full blown wizard amongst our ranks."

With that statement, Agent Michaels drew his wand and waved it at the direction of the apartment. A silvery mist surrounded the apartment complex.

"I have cast an enchantment around this complex so that people can apparate into this place, but can't disapparate out. Along with that, all enchanted items are now useless. She shouldn't be able to use the time turner this time."

"So what do you want us to do now, sir?" Captain Weaver asked.

"Set up the perimeter like you always do." Agent Michaels commanded. "I will set a trap for her in the apartment. Inform me if she comes back."

"Yes, sir!" Captain Weaver nodded and walked away.

_What the hell are we getting ourselves into?

* * *

_

Draco couldn't stop the current of time from sweeping him away. He was being torn apart by the mighty, unstoppable power of time. Draco could still feel himself though, and still had voluntary control over his body. But he looked down, only to find that his body was almost non-existent; he had been torn apart. His body parts were no where to be seen as he realized that his head was the only thing that remained of him.

_Well, I suppose it's safe to say that I'm screwed. _

As time swept him away, he sank deeper and deeper to the bottom of the current, closer to the barrier that separated time from the real world. If he crossed that barrier, he would most certainly be dead as his head was separated from the rest of his body parts. Draco prepared himself for a quick, painful death.

* * *

Hermione reappeared in the real world at the front porch of the Burrow. Upon taking a deep breath, she knocked on the door of her second family, the Weasleys. Ginny answered the door with the utmost shock. 

"Hermione!" She exclaimed. "You're back!"

"Can I come in?" Hermione muttered, too emotionally exhausted to speak loudly.

"Oh!" Ginny got out of Hermione's way. "Of course; come in!"

Hermione entered the house and immediately embraced the sister she never had. Hermione broke into tears.

* * *

Soon enough, Draco came up with a plan. 

_I can still feel and move my body parts. I can still use magic. It might be possible for me to drag my body back to one place and reconstruct myself. _

"Accio head," Draco chanted, carefully waving his right hand that held the wand.

It worked. Soon enough, a magical force moved Draco's head against the current of time, back to where his right arm was.

"Accio body, accio left arm, accio right leg, accio left leg!" ecstatic Draco called out for whatever body part he was missing, gradually reconstructing himself by placing his body parts into their proper places with his hands. Draco was so busy fixing himself that he failed to realize he was about to cross the barrier. Upon crossing the barrier, Draco crashed onto the floor and hit a wall.

"Gah!" Draco screamed in pain. "Buggers! That hurt!"

He got up and looked around the room. He saw a Pensieve, boringly white walls, and an overly organized kitchen. He realized that he had come back right where he started from, Hermione's apartment. He felt an urge to go back and chase Hermione again, but he soon realized that he couldn't.

_Bloody hell, an hour had passed._

Draco quickly realized the reason. He had been swept away along with the current of time. The time doesn't change only if he flew against the stream. While trying to reconstruct his body, he hadactually let the time pass. Hermione had already been in England for an hour; it would be impossible for Draco to find her now.

Draco had no choice but to give up. Putting his wand away, he walked around the room, reminiscing upon the memory of Hermione. He was surprised to see a picture frame of Hermione and him together because he hadn't noticed it before. He wondered if it had been there all along. It was a picture of them at their first date.

_Never again_, Draco thought, almost breaking into tears. He reached for the frame.

Immediately after he touched the picture frame, an overwhelming amount of electrical shock paralyzed him.

"Ahhhhhhh!" Draco screamed out in pain only to be replied by an unfamiliar voice behind him.

"Humans, wizards, and muggles, always notice the unfamiliar," the voice behind him said. "Placing that picture frame there sure worked its charm. Sorry about the enchantment I placed on it though, we couldn't afford you getting away again."

As the owner voice walked toward Draco, he soon realized that he had caught the wrong person. But the face of realization wasn't that of disappointment, it was that of pleasant surprise.

"Well, well, well," He chuckled. "It seems that by trying to capture the Hooded Girl, we have caught you, Draco Malfoy, one of the most wanted criminals in the wizarding world, instead.

"What do you want from me," Draco grumbled.

"How rude," the man said in a condescending tone. "How can we proceed without proper introductions? I'm Agent Michaels. We know that you're Draco Malfoy, a death-eater."

"I'm not a death-eater!" Draco screamed out.

"Calm yourself," Agent Michaels laughed. "Our records say that you are. You can't lie to us Mr. Malfoy. That's very rude."

_I can't lie, you sonovabitch!_

"What do you want from me?" Draco asked again.

"Captain Weaver," Agent Michaels spoke into his radio transmitter. "It wasn't the Hooded Girl, but I've captured the subject of this bust. Come in with your team and secure the area."

As a hand full of black ops came in to the apartment, knocking down doors, Agent Michaels finally decided to answer Draco's question with an obvious answer. "Well, we're going to put you in a tiny cell and interrogate you." Agent Michaels gave an evil smile.

* * *

Later that night, handcuffed Draco was escorted into an unmarked black sedan by several black ops. Several of the apartment residents, surprised to find out that they had been living close to a known terrorist, came out to watch. Draco felt no embarrassment seeing so many people staring at him; he had gone below the point of embarrassment. All he could think of was the day he fought against Ron in the grand ballroom of his house. All he could think of was what happened after he knocked Ron down to the floor. The memory was as clear as it could ever be.

* * *

Ron woke up in a small grass field surrounded by a forest. He noticed Draco sitting close to him. Ron tried to jump at Draco, but realized he couldn't get up. 

"Did you think I'd just let you attack me?" Draco laughed condescendingly.

"Where am I?" Ron demanded.

"Well," Draco answered. "Physically, we're still in my grand ballroom. Mentally, we're in your head."

"My head is a forest?" Ron thought out loud.

"Well," Draco replied to the rhetorical question. "With you being unconscious, I can control your mind. This environment was the most convenient for me to achieve my goal."

"And what is your goal?" Ron asked, confused by Draco's actions.

"My goal is to kill that horcrux trying to take over your body."

"Why do you need me?"

"Well, that's a complicated story."

"Why are you trying to destroy a horcrux in the first place? You're a death-eater."

"Well, I suppose I'm not really one of them" Draco chuckled.

"What do you want me to do?"

"Now, this is the hardest part." Draco became serious. "I have to ask you to sacrifice yourself to destroy the horcrux."

"What? Why?"

"Because even if I destroy the locket, the horcrux can still survive by taking over a body. The only way to truly kill it is for the soul of the body's owner, you, to kill it while it is in your mind. You will be able to use magic in your mind just as you can use magic in the real world. The horcrux is still weak; you can definitely kill it."

"But why do I have to sacrifice myself?"

"Because the usual Avada Kedavra doesn't work on the Dark Lord. He survived it once, he will survive again. This means that you will have to sacrifice your own soul and drag him down with you."

"I see." Ron stared at the ground dreadfully.

"I was gonna do this on my own you know?" Draco sighed. "The Dark Lord assigned me to have my body taken over by the horcrux. I was going to take him down myself. But once you showed up, the Dark Lord didn't want to use my body anymore. He said 'why waste the body of a follower when I could use the body of an enemy?' I had no choice but to take you down."

"I see." Ron sighed as he realized that his desire to prove to Hermione that he could destroy a horcrux will ultimately kill him.

"I'm sorry I have to put you through this." Draco looked at him sympathetically. "I really wish there was another way."

"It's alright; I'll do what ever necessary to get the job done."

"Thank you." Draco released Ron from his binding and shook his hand.

As Draco got up to leave, he turned around to say one more thing. "You know, the things I said about Hermione, it's not true. I will never do that to Hermione."

Ron gave Draco a warm smile for the first time as Draco disapparated out of his mind.

* * *

_Hermione never knew the whole story. And that became my ruin. _

The black sedan drove off, taking Draco to face his destiny.

* * *

Yeah, sorry for such a tragic conclusion to this whole story. 

The good news is that I'm making a sequal to this. It's gonna be a new story and not a new chapter because... well... I didn't like the way this story was going and thought this is the only way I can add a HUGE twist to this.

Give me like a week to get the new story posted.

And also give me some reviews. Come on, it's the last one. lol


	18. Unacceptable Destiny

here's a preview of the sequal, an Action/Adventure/Drama fanfic

The title shall be revealed at the end of the chapter

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* * *

**

**Unacceptable Destiny**

June 6th, 2006

Hermione lay on the barren land, immobile and bleeding to death. She had lost. She, the Order's last hope, had lost her battle against the Dark Lord's forces.

_How could I have lost? My plan was perfect. Our plan was perfect. _

It was a perfect plan; it was fool-proof. But something had gone horribly wrong: the key to their victory had betrayed her.

_Jake, why did this have to happen to us? Everything went so perfectly, until the end. Why did it have to happen, why? _

It was strange. Despite the fact that she was talking to Jacob M. Alexander in her mind, all she could see was the face of Draco Malfoy. Neither of them was there with her. She was all alone. And all she could see was Draco's face, frowning upon her misery.

_Draco, why couldn't you have been the one?_

Hermione wished she could go back in time to last winter. She regretted everything that had happened. But she gave up on the thought on the realization that it was pointless. She could change nothing. She couldn't fight fate.

A droplet of tear rolled out of her eye as she closed her eyes. She was dying. She had given up. She went to sleep.

* * *

_My name is Draco Malfoy. Because of my past sins, I am destined to live the rest of my life in misery._

_You might think me cruel; you might think me evil. To tell you the truth, it's probably true. I had the misfortune of being born a pure-blood from a family full of death-eaters. I suppose it is my cruel fate that binds me to commit evil._

_I am responsible for the death of Professor Albus Dumbledore, the greatest wizard ever lived since Merlin, and Ronald Weasley. I killed neither of them, but I certainly am the cause of their death. Despite the fact that I regret what I have done, I make no apologies for the crimes I have committed. You might think that I'm really evil now. I'm not apologizing for murder, after all. But you're just being biased._

_I committed evil not because I wanted to commit evil, not because I loved cruelty, but because I had to. I had to contribute to the atrocities of the Dark Lord because I had a family to take care of, a family to keep alive, a mother who never ceased to love me. I made myself the criminal in hopes that my mother wouldn't have to endure the torture I was put through. I trained hard and became the best wizard I could possibly be under the watchful eyes of Lord Voldemort so I could one day protect the ones I love from the evil lord's hands._

_But one day, something within me snapped. The day I dueled Ronald Weasley, I saw to a full extent what I had become. And I hated it. Ronald Weasley was on a mission to destroy a horcrux. I was on a mission to find a body for the said horcrux. So I fought against the Weasley and he stood no chance against my abilities. I could have killed him in so many occasions, I felt sorry for him. But something incomprehensible occurred. He kept going; he didn't give up. He was also fighting for the ones he loved, his family who always believed in him, his friends who watched out for them, Hermione Granger who loved him. His love overwhelmed me; it overwhelmed the horcrux so much that it killed the horcrux. His love was so great that he sacrificed his life for it. I saw his dying body under the cover of my invisibility cloak. I watched Hermione coming after him, but too late. I saw her yelling out his name. I saw her trying to revive him. I saw her tears flooding out of her eyes. I couldn't work for the Dark Lord anymore. I had to run away._

_I wanted my mother to come with me. I wanted my long time mentor to come with me. But they told me just as I had to do what I needed to do, they had to do what they needed to do. My mother, the one who taught me the error of the death-eater's ways, had to stay because she had to take care of her other family members. Despite her differences with her biased family, she still loved them. My mentor, Severus Snape, had a promise to keep. He had promised Dumbledore to keep his position within the ranks of the Dark Lord. He had to kill Dumbledore for it; he wasn't about to run now._

_So I left for America on my own. I left for the Land of Dreams to find the true definition of love. Surprisingly, I found it very quickly._

_In the American Suburbia, I encountered Hermione Granger, a face I never thought I'd see again. Because I was under a disguise by the name of Jake Alexander, she didn't know she had met me, the man responsible for the death of her lover. And somehow, we fell in love. Over the next three months that I was with her, I was the happiest man on Earth. Despite all the drama, all the arguments, and all the me not knowing how to express my feelings toward her, we managed to discover what love really meant. I thought I had fulfilled my dream. Or so I thought._

_My past never ceases to haunt me, it seems. Hermione somehow discovered that I was actually Draco Malfoy. Using the Veritaserum, she squeezed out of me the fact that I had been responsible for Ronald Weasley's death. She left me before I could even say "wait."_

_To make matters worse, CIA raided Hermione apartment, capturing me. They were supposedly looking for her, who had hacked into the CIA database for classified information, but when they captured me, they forgot all about her. I was on their Wizard's Most Wanted List after all._

_I suppose I am fated to be punished for my past sins for the rest of my life. I here in America, unable to protect the people I care about. I lost Hermione, the woman who showed me the meaning of love. And I'm sitting here now, in a CIA interrogation room, about to spend the rest of my life in an American Prison or worse, in Guantánamo._

_I am overdosed in Veritaserum. I am wand-less, and therefore, helpless. My destiny, as Americans put it, suck._

_I want to find Hermione and make her love me again. I want to return to Britain to redeem myself of my past sins. I want to be stronger so I can finally protect the ones I love. I can't be here forever. I'm not about to wither away the rest of my life in some cold, torturous prison._

_I can not accept my destiny._

_This is my story.

* * *

_

Title is... **Fighting Destiny**


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